House of Dreams
by ProcrastinationMajor
Summary: Who is the dream watcher? Why does the lady from Nina's dream say she's gone rogue? Nina receives a book from a lady in her dream the night before she and Eddie head back to England. While trying to balance schoolwork, drama, romance and magic, Sibuna learns the truth about things they can hardly believe, and realize that the gods they didn't even think existed are very, very real.
1. Chapter 1: Nina

**Nina**

Some people are blessed with the ability to eat an ice cream cone without getting it smeared all over their face. I am not one of those people.

"I just don't understand how you managed to get chocolate on your forehead," Eddie snickered, as I tried to wipe the ice cream off of my face and only succeeded in gaining the appearance of someone who had just had a dairy facial.

"I never said I wasn't a messy eater," I defended myself, vainly attempting to salvage any dignity I might have had left as I tried to suck the chocolate coating off of my fingers. It wasn't even that I _was_ a messy eater, ice cream just tended to get all over my face whenever I had it. No matter how carefully I ate it, whether it came in a cone or a cup, it always managed to find its way to my fingers, my mouth, my nose, my hair and in some miraculous cases: my ears.

Eddie grinned and tossed me a towel that I accepted gratefully before heading over to the sink. Twisting the faucet, I relaxed as I felt warm water cascade over my hands in a frothing swirl of bubbles and droplets. Thrusting the towel under until it was completely soaked I rinsed my face, scrubbing the skin red and raw until I was one hundred and ten percent sure that all of the ice cream was off.

"So." Eddie stared at me expectantly as I sat back down across from him to finish double-checking that I had completed all of my summer homework. "You want to give the whole tracking each other thing another go? It'll be our last chance before we head back to school tomorrow."

Seeing the complete checklist in my folder, I flipped the cover closed and laced my fingers under my chin. "Sorry, I can't," I smiled apologetically. "I've got a Skype date with Fabian in ten minutes."

"Say no more, I can tell when I'm being a third wheel." Clasping his hands to his chest, Eddie mimed a dramatically hurt expression. "The Osirian will forever be only a distraction to his Chosen One, always coming second to her boyfriend in the story of the star-crossed Fabina lovers."

My pencil whizzing at his head interrupted his monologue, which he ducked just in time, causing me to laugh. "Are you done yet?" I folded my arms.

"I want to say no, but I don't know if you have any ammunition left," came his reply from underneath the kitchen table.

"Nina sweetie," Mrs. Miller walked into the room. "I'm about to put Eddie's last load of laundry in the washing machine, is there anything you need me to clean for you before tomorrow?"

At forty-seven years old with a couple light streaks of gray in her blonde hair, Ms. Miller was infinitely more suited to the role of doting aunt rather than strict mother. Today's apparel was no different than the norm, one of her seemingly limitless spotless white button-downs paired with a cheerful skirt, her perfectly manicured nails idly rubbing her bare wedding ring finger.

"Thanks Ms. Miller, but the last of my stuff came out of the dryer yesterday," I said.

Walking into the pantry Ms. Miller reappeared about two seconds later carrying a thick recipe book. "Alright honey. Eddie, can you turn the oven on to three seventy-five?"

After cautiously poking his head out from under the table and glancing at me, Eddie muttered something about how writing materials shouldn't be used as lethal weapons before heading to go turn on the oven as his mom went back to start the laundry. Retrieving my pencil from where it had landed, I grabbed my folder and pencil case and ducked upstairs to the guest bedroom. I had been staying with Eddie for the second month of summer vacation, after I accidentally let slip to him while we were texting that my gran was moving into a retirement home next week and the plan was for me to stay in a hotel. He had put his foot down and insisted that I just take a taxi twenty miles east to his house so I could stay with a friend/protector for free, instead of pay for a month long stay at a hotel where I knew practically nobody.

Switching on the desktop in the corner I opened Skype and turned the volume up to max so that when Fabian called me and the computer rang I would be able to hear it without problem. Running into the bathroom, I turned on the faucet and stuck my fingers underneath and pressed them down on the top of my head, trying to make sure all the hair was laying down flat. Not hearing any ringing, I applied some of the gold eye shadow Amber had sent me for my birthday and added a little mascara to make my eyes really pop, before pursing my lips and applying some light pink gloss. Normally I limited my make-up to a hairbrush and toothpaste, but I found I kind of enjoyed having a reason to put some extra effort into my appearance; and a Skype date with my boyfriend who I just got back together with at the end of school and the only contact we've had is via cell phones and the Internet was a pretty good reason.

The stereotypical old telephone ringing sounded from the room, and I flashed a smile at the mirror for confidence before running in front of the computer to see 'Fabian Rutter Incoming Call' on the screen. Sitting in the chair I took a deep breath and clicked on the green telephone icon.

The screen quickly morphed into Fabian's grinning face and I will freely admit my heart did a little tap dance. "Hey," I beamed, feeling a very powerful urge to giggle.

"Hey yourself," he replied in that adorable accent of his. "Are you ready for classes to start?"

"If I'm going to be completely honest, I'm looking forward to tomorrow for an entirely different reason," I admitted.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Do tell."

Laughing I shook my head, feeling my golden brown curls swish against my neck and back. "Nuh uh, it's a secret. But I promise you will be the first one to find out the second it happens."

"Come on Nina, at least give me a hint?" Fabian wheedled. I pursed my lips and shook my head, fighting back a smile. "One little hint?" he pushed.

"Fine. One hint: it involves not repeating a mistake I made last year." I watched in amusement as his face flickered into confusion as he tried to draw clues from my cryptic hint.

"I don't suppose you could be a little more specific?"

"Sorry Fabian, no can do," I winked. "You'll just have to wait until tomorrow."

"I suppose I can live with that," he said. "How's your gran liking the retirement home?"

A small lump rose in my throat at the reminder that the woman who raised me would no longer live with me again, would no longer wake me up at eight in the morning for chocolate chip pancakes or smooth my hair as she tucked me in bed at night but I swallowed it down. "She's taken to it pretty well. Every Saturday they have a bingo game that she's apparently ruthless at, but she claims the meals leave a lot to be desired in terms of variety."

"Your gran is a tough one Nina, I'm sure she'll be fine," Fabian assured me.

"I know she will. I just… I just miss her is all," I confessed.

Fabian smiled gently and reached out to press his fingertips to the screen. I did the same so that it was almost like we were only a hair's breadth apart, rather than four thousand miles away from each other. "You'll be OK Nina. Your first year at Anubis you made it through Victor's curfew, a missing girl, security cameras and a creepy raven, and last year you survived an insane Ancient Egyptian ruler. You can handle your gran moving to the next neighborhood."

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a remarkable ability to put things in perspective?" I teased.

"Not that I can remember." I almost didn't get the last word since he yawned halfway through.

"Time difference!" I practically jumped, immediately feeling guilty. "I'm so sorry Fabian, I completely forgot you're eight hours ahead."

"It's alright Nina. It'd be worse if school had started and I had to worry about making sure Victor can hear a pin drop every night at ten."

I laughed at the reference to our crazy housemaster. "You know I've always found it weird that Victor says he wants to hear a pin drop five minutes after ten, but he only ever drops his pin at ten o'clock."

Fabian shrugged. "Maybe it's a part of the whole being ninety six years old thing."

I was about to reply when I got a tingling in the base of my skull and felt a very strong tug towards the hallway. "Just a sec," I held up a finger. Standing, I walked over and yanked open the door, jumping aside in time to avoid Eddie as he fell into the room.

"I wasn't eavesdropping!" Eddie claimed as he immediately scrambled to his feet.

"Yeah, and Victor doesn't go through everyone's suitcases the first night back," I replied sarcastically.

"I'm pretty sure that's illegal," Eddie said.

"And when has that ever stopped him?" I rolled my eyes.

"Fair point. What's up Fabian?" Eddie called into the room.

"Not much Eddie. Do you know what Nina's looking forward to tomorrow?" Fabian asked.

"No, he doesn't," I interrupted, dragging Eddie to his feet and pushing him out the door. "And if you don't stop eavesdropping, I'm telling Patricia that when you two weren't on speaking terms for three days two weeks ago you slept with a picture of her under your pillow." I whispered-threatened.

Eddie paled. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Our standoff lasted for a grand total of four seconds before Eddie caved and begrudgingly walked down the hall back to his room.

Sitting back down in the chair I offered a grin. "Sorry about that."

"It's f-f-fine," he assured me, yawning halfway through and I sighed.

"I hate to cut this short, but you're sort of falling asleep over there so I'm going to let you go OK?"

"Nina I'm fine," he protested, making an effort to sit up straighter on the couch he was on.

"Hey, we'll see each other tomorrow right? I'll text you when the plane takes off," I promised.

Fabian yawned yet again while nodding, and I fought back a giggle. "Get some rest sleepy-head," I teased gently.

He slowly blinked twice before nodding and raising his hand to his mouth to cover yet another yawn. I moved my mouse to the red telephone button but hesitated to click it. Pressing my index finger to the computer screen one last time, he pressed his finger up against mine and I thought of this time tomorrow when there wouldn't be an entire ocean between us. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said quietly, a small smile tugging at my lips.

Fabian nodded, finger still pressed to mine. "I'll see you tomorrow," he agreed.

If I hadn't seen him yawn again I don't know when I would've pressed the end button. As it was I gave him a wave and clicked, feeling sadly hollow now that he was gone.

"Shortest date ever."

My head snapped up. "Eddie!"

Grinning, he poked his head into the room. "Yes Chosen One?"

"I thought I told you to not eavesdrop," my voice betrayed the faintest hint of my irritation.

"You say eavesdrop, I say listen to somebody else's conversation that you're not a part of without their knowledge."

"And then I tell you what a remarkable mini-Victor you're becoming."

Smirking, Eddie held up his hands in mock surrender. "Easy Chosen One. I actually wasn't eavesdropping, I just stopped by so we could give the tracking thing another go since your date got cut short."

Rolling out the kinks in my neck I pushed the chair back into a more reclined position in an attempt to get comfy. "You know I don't think your girlfriend is going to be thrilled when she learns you can pinpoint the exact location of another girl just by thinking about her."

"Well we agreed not to tell them for a while so I don't really have to worry about that do I? Now do you want to practice or not?" Eddie folded his arms as he leaned against the doorway, ever-present smirk twisting up the corners of his lips.

I sighed in defeat. "Sure why not."

"Yes!" Eddie jumped in the air with a fist pump and raced forward to grab my wrist and tug me out of the chair.

I couldn't help but laugh as we raced down the hall and out the back door and into the maze that was the Millers' backyard. Most citizens of Pennsylvania had a relatively tame yard, but Eddie's was completely wild. Uncared for bushes snaked across the lawn, leafy feelers creating trip wires and raised loops just waiting to tangle up some unsuspecting passerby. Trees grew so close to one another that their branches practically intertwined as one; and the whole enclosure was never completely still, some part of it always rustling as squirrels and other small creatures raced through.

Tugging my sweatshirt off I unceremoniously dumped it on his head and laughed as he yelped. "Nina! Your zipper almost went up my nose!"

"Sorry," I grinned, not really meaning it. "I guess I'll have to try harder next time."

"Yeah, very funny Chosen One. You've got ten seconds. One. Two."

By the time he reached four my brain finally registered what was happening and I turned and bolted through the green labyrinth, hopping over roots and ducking branches until I crouched behind a trunk as Eddie called out, "Nine. Ten!"

Pressing my hands over my mouth to silence my breathing I kept my body completely still, desperate not to rustle any of the dry leaves caking the ground to avoid giving Eddie the slightest hint as to where I could be hiding. We had discovered his ability to trace my location three weeks ago. I was new to the city and even though I would only be staying there for a month and probably never leave the house, Ms. Miller had insisted Eddie give me a tour of the neighborhood about a week into my stay on what just so happened to be the busiest day of the year. Summer was ending so relatives were flying out and families were driving back in and the whole scenario created a wild hodgepodge of vacationers and natives that turned the place into the Philadelphia equivalent of Times Square on New Year's Eve.

Eddie and I had been trying to find our way through the city square when I stumbled. To fall to the ground in a crowd that big would have certainly meant getting trampled, so all my focus surged towards my feet as I immediately tried to regain my footing. A few seconds – precious seconds – later and my eyes once again glanced up to find Eddie, only for me to realize that Eddie was gone. I stupidly hadn't thought to bring a cell phone so we had absolutely no means to contact each other and I had no idea when he would even notice I wasn't following him. Next thing I knew someone nudged me forwards and then I was being swept along with the mob as I desperately scanned the top for any sign of his spiky blonde head. I'd eventually managed to duck out of the crowd and into a nearby diner which was blessedly more quiet than the crowd outside and so I sat and waited as I tried to figure out how to find my way back until I'd suddenly heard a tapping on the window at which I had looked up to see my very relieved looking Osirian.

When we got back to his house Eddie had explained to me how he had panicked upon realizing I was gone, and by thinking of me had somehow managed to see exactly where I was. How he described it made it sound like he apparently was able to mentally trace his way to my location just by thinking about me. Over the past weeks we'd tried pushing the boundaries to see if there was a limit to how far he could track me and failed to find one. We'd also tried to reverse it, see if I could trace him. While I was unable to pinpoint his exact location on purpose, I would occasionally get flashes of his location when he was nearby – like the hallway during my Skype date with Fabian for instance.

"Gotcha!" I raised my eyes just in time to see Eddie pull my jacket off his head to reveal his smirk firmly in place. "Too easy Nina."

"In my defense, you already found me when I folded myself into that old toy box in your attic so now pretty much anything I can think of is bound to be a bit of a let down." Reaching up I gripped Eddie's hand and he pulled me up, his palm cool against mine. Letting go, I firmly dusted the crunchy leaves off of my jeans, shivering as a breeze ghosted through the yard, wrapping itself around my arms.

"Do you want to go back inside?" I looked up to see Eddie staring at me intently, concern etched in his eyes.

I shook my head. "No, I'm just a little chilly, it's fine. I want to keep practicing."

Eddie's brow furrowed as he tried to discern whether or not I was lying. "Nina we can go inside if you want to."

I let a smirk tug up the corners of my lips. "Do you think you won't be able to find me once it gets dark? Is that what this is about?" I teased, not even bothering to try and hide my grin.

His eyes narrowed playfully. "Oh it is so on. One! Two!" I bolted before his mouth had even finished forming the second number.

We kept practicing up to and after dinner, even as the sun sank below the shadow-drenched hills and my fingers and nose went numb from the cold. Eddie always managed to find me; no matter how cleverly I hid and after he found me under a table in the storm shelter I refused to play unless he was blindfolded, convinced he had to be peeking.

"Don't be such a sore loser Chosen One," Eddie laughed, making no attempt to disguise his enjoyment.

"You found me in under two minutes," I said sourly. "I was at least twenty yards in the opposite direction of where I hid last time and even after you came down into the storm shelter you headed straight for me. How is that even possible?"

"It's my Nina-sense," Eddie grinned, wiggling his fingers in front of his face as though he were the Boogeyman coming to get me.

"Nina! Eddie! Come inside, it's almost nine o'clock!" I turned and saw a darkened silhouette in front of the brightly lit kitchen, one hand on the doorframe the other poised on her hip.

"Coming Ms. Miller!" I called, at the same time as Eddie yelled, "One minute mom!"

I helped Eddie seal back up the storm shelter and we walked back inside, locking the door behind us.

"You two need to shower, I want you both in bed in thirty minutes, you have to be up at 5:30 to make it to the airport in time tomorrow. I honestly don't know what you could have been doing out there for so long," Ms. Miller gently chided while shooing us upstairs as she absently played with the finger where her wedding ring used to be.

Pulling open the drawer I grabbed my hairbrush and began raking out the snarls in my hair – finding more than a couple leaves – before jumping in the shower. Breathing deeply, I watched the steam swirl up from where the water hit the tiled shower floor as the dust and grass stains from my body swirled down the drain in a murky blur.

After using enough shampoo and conditioner to fill an industrial sized bathtub, I switched off the water, wrapped on a towel and stepped out onto the shower mat. I double and triple-checked my packing list while waiting for my hair to dry and packed up my bathroom supplies after I brushed my teeth and hair.

I had changed into my pajamas and was pulling my (still wet) hair into a low ponytail when I heard a series of knocks at the door. "Nina? You decent?" Eddie called.

"Come on in weirdo." I called.

His head poked past the doorframe, hand over his eyes and I laughed. "Very funny. You should become a comedian."

"No problem. Here till Thursday, try the veal, tip your waiter." Winking at me, Eddie pulled his other hand out from behind his back and tossed a little white bottle at me.

I raised my hand to catch it before looking it over and raising my eyebrows at him. "Melatonin? What, are you and your mom planning to kidnap me while I sleep or something?"

He didn't even blink. "Yes that's exactly what we plan on doing."

"Well it's comforting to know that at least my kidnappers are honest." I retorted. Walking over Eddie took the bottle, unscrewed the cap and dumped two of the pills into my hand. "Seriously though. Why do I need a sedative?"

"Because my mom is creepily into that whole 'all teenagers need at least eight hours of sleep' routine and if we go to bed right now we'll just hit the mark. This is to make sure we're not up until midnight joyriding or whatever it is she's afraid we'll be doing." He gave me a weird little two-fingered salute thing, before heading out the door. "Night Chosen One."

"Good night Eddie," I answered. I did one last check that I had everything in my suitcase before setting out my clothes for tomorrow and pulling the blinds and curtains shut. It had amused Eddie to no end when he had learned that I never slept in any room that had windows unless I could cover them up for fear that if I didn't some creep would spy on me while I was sleeping or something. Switching off the lights I carefully made my way through the darkened room to grab the pills and slide underneath the covers. Rolling the Melatonin capsules between my fingers, I closed my eyes and slid them beneath my tongue.

They tasted like the mint leaves Trudy gave us back at Anubis when someone was running a fever. Doing my best to just focus on my breathing I let the soft mattress gently swallow me up, letting the minty sedatives lull me into the nice… fluffy pillow… I was so… so tired….∞

* * *

∞Nervously playing with my locket, I searched for the source of the crash that had woken me up. Since the Millers' house didn't have a stair rail to hold on to, I leaned against the wall, feeling the paint bumps press into my palm and fingertips as I carefully walked downstairs.

Turning the corner, I peered into the kitchen to see Ms. Miller scuttling around the kitchen, wringing and waving her hands and muttering to herself.

She didn't seem to notice me enter the room, so trying not to draw any attention to myself I tiptoed over to the table and picked up the fallen over chair that must have been the crash I'd heard. All the while Ms. Miller kept muttering to herself and flitting around the room, spouting nonsense and making strange patterns with her hands.

"Ms. Miller?" Holding my breath, I waited for some form of acknowledgment but none came. I cautiously walked closer, nerves creeping over me. "Ms. Miller? Are you OK?"

Reaching out a hand I gently placed it on her shoulder. The second I made contact with Ms. Miller she spun around, but she wasn't Ms. Miller anymore. Her skin was dark like Alfie's without any of the gentle wrinkles I was used to seeing and there were glittering black spheres where her eyes used to be. Her hair was a deep, deep blue interwoven with black and gold braids and she was wearing what looked to be a cream-colored dress with enough gold jewelry to fill Fort Knox.

Ms. Miller? I whispered in confusion. Or tried to anyway – no sound came out of my mouth.

Mrs. Miller grabbed my arms, her fingers curling into my biceps as she stared at me intently. "You have to keep it safe Chosen One," she seemed to whisper but her mouth didn't move. "You must protect it from her."

Protect what from who? I wanted to ask, but my voice didn't seem to be working.

"Come with me Chosen One." Ms. Miller's fingers laced into my hand and she tugged me back up the stairs and down a hallway that hadn't been there the past four and a half weeks I'd been living there. I'm not sure when it happened, but at one point my mind dimly registered that the wooden paneling had somehow changed to stone, and the chilly temperatures were making me wish I were wearing something other than a polka dot tank top and pajama pants, or that I was at least wearing shoes.

Ms. Miller kept tugging me through the hallway with torches lining the walls, down stone staircases and past old wooden doors until we finally reached the end after what felt like an eternity where a giant barricaded door was waiting. I did a double take when tiny, never-bench-pressed-anything-in-her-life Ms. Miller effortlessly lifted the wooden beam lying in front of the door and shoved it open. Grabbing my hand, she tugged me into a room that made me feel like I needed about twenty more eyes just to take it all in. Endless bookshelves seemed to stretch on forever and there wasn't a single empty space anywhere in them. I let myself be tugged past books with covers of leather, stone, what seemed like leaves (was that book made of _fire_?) and even what looked like some scrolls made of papyrus.

Eventually Ms. Miller stopped running and tugged on what looked like a book made of sapphires. There was a harsh scraping and grinding sort of sound and the bookshelf split in half to reveal a faceted glass case. I squinted, but the design twisted and warped my vision, making it impossible to see what was inside of it.

Guiding me forward, Ms. Miller took my locket in her hands and moved it towards the center of the case. A red nimbus of energy began to swirl from the locket and the case as she pressed my necklace into the locket shaped imprint. A million tiny cracks began to spider-web out from the center to encircle the case and I wrenched my hand out of Ms. Miller's grasp and tripped backwards in my haste to get away and cover my eyes as the glass exploded in a burst of red energy. Heat seared my vision and blistered my skin and the tinkling of a thousand wind chimes filled my ears as miniscule shards of glass rained down and shattered against the floor. Cautiously pulling my hands away from my face, I saw Ms. Miller standing in front of a glistening white podium, a scared look on her face as she stared at the ancient looking book on display.

I pushed myself to my feet, wincing in pain from the minute pieces of glass cutting into my palms as I wobbled a bit on unsteady legs, vainly trying to brush glass splinters where they had lodged themselves in my arms.

What is going on? I tried to ask, but my voice still wasn't working and I couldn't make my mouth move. I could only watch as Ms. Miller – or whoever this person was – carefully lifted the book from it's pedestal and walked over to me.

"The dream watcher has gone rogue, dear child." Her eyes burned into me and she did that whole talking-without-moving-her-mouth thing as she pressed the book into my arms. "You must protect it Chosen One."

Who's the dream watcher? I wanted to cry. What is so special about a book?

"Nina?" My head jerked and I looked around as the sound of my name reverberated through the room but the woman placed her fingers on my chin and forced my face up to look at hers. Tears began to form in my eyes as her nails dug into my skin but either she didn't notice or just didn't care.

"You must protect it from her. I cannot hold her back much longer. Chosen One, you must keep it safe until you are able to rescue me. Promise me!"

"Nina!"

My name echoed through wherever-we-were yet again as the place started to dissolve but the woman wouldn't let me go. "Promise me!"

Maybe it was because I needed her to let go of me. Maybe it was because I had to get out of that place.

Maybe it was the fear in her eyes.

Or maybe I was just an idiot.

But whatever the reason, my vocal chords abruptly seemed to resume functioning and as the bookshelves melted into the ground and the stonewalls shimmered into nothing and the whole world began to tilt and a softness spread behind my back I clutched the book and whispered, "I promise."

"Nina wake up! It's 5:40 we're going to be late!"

I blinked and all at once I wasn't in a vanishing room clutching a book like my life depended on it, I was in the guest room of the Millers' house in bed with Eddie shaking my shoulders. "Didn't you hear your alarm go off? You're ten minutes late!"

His words finally registered in my brain and my head snapped over to the clock. 5:40. I shrieked, lurching out of bed but my legs tangled in the covers and instead of masterfully leaping into the dawn, down plunged Nina onto the floor. Scrambling like a spider with an extra eight legs I grabbed my jeans and tee from the floor.

"Out while I change. Shoo!" I ordered Eddie, practically throwing him out the door. The morning chill began to set in as I fumbled to tear off my pajamas and yank on my jeans. Eddie and I were supposed to be ready by now and so as a result, I was forced to do a weird, line dancing, hopping thing as I somehow managed to clip on my bra, make the bed, get on my shoes, tug on my green and gold shirt and wrestle on my jacket in under two minutes.

"My mom sent me to tell you that the car's going to be here in ten minutes so you need to come eat breakfast."

I barely registered his words enough to nod as I haphazardly hopped over to the bathroom while tying my shoes. Grabbing the hairbrush I ripped it through my hair – pulling out more than a couple strands – and whisked it and my toiletry bag over to my suitcase.

"You're not going to brush your teeth?" Eddie asked and I shook my head.

"Nope. Breath mints are substituting for now. I'll brush at the airport." I was in such a hurry to force my bag, brush and pajamas into my suitcase that after I unzipped it and threw the lid back I almost missed it. I got my things in and had even sealed the suitcase halfway back up when I froze, my mind realizing what my eyes had seen.

Fingers slightly shaking, I unzipped my suitcase, breaths becoming more shallow and carefully opened it back up.

"Nina what are you doing, we're going to be late," Eddie reminded me but my body was becoming numb and I didn't answer. Trembling, I pushed aside the crumpled up pajamas and blew out a shaky breath at what I saw. So I wasn't hallucinating. This was really happening. "What are you staring at?" Eddie demanded, walking over and kneeling beside me. "Do you want to be late for school or do you want to come downstairs already?"

I slowly ran my hand over the book that I had not packed in my suitcase last night. The book that I had been given in my dream last night.

"Nina, are you even listening to me? School starts tomorrow which means we need to be back on campus today, so come on we have a plane to catch." I looked up to see Eddie staring at me and slowly drew my fingers over the book.

Picking up the book, I stood and handed it to him mutely. "I got this in a dream last night. I wake up, and it's in my suitcase."

Eddie's line of sight rose from the book up to me, his eyes widening in recognition and I took a deep breath and whispered, "I think school may have just started early."


	2. Chapter 2: Mara

**Mara**

By the time we finally got to school I thought my head was about to explode.

"Mara did you remember to pack toothpaste?" My mum asked worriedly as we pulled through the gates.

"Yes, mum," I forced a smile, clenching my teeth as I determinedly stared at the gearshift. Just a few more seconds. Just a few more seconds and then I would be able to get out of this tiny little car and _breathe_.

"What about your tights and sweaters? You know it gets cold here in the winter and I don't want my treasure to freeze."

"Yes, mum," I bit the inside of my cheek and kept my eyes riveted towards the gearshift, watching my dad's hand creep towards it in agonizing slowness.

"And remember pet, studies first, boys second. I do miss Mick and that new friend of yours, Jeffrey—"

"His name is Jerome, mum, not Jeffrey," I interrupted, unable to help myself.

"Right of course sweet. That new friend of yours, Jerry—"

"Jerome," I muttered.

"Something just seems off about him. I feel like he's one of those boys who goes out and snogs girls he's not dating on weekends," my mother said worriedly.

I forcibly reminded myself to keep calm and sucked in one long breath through my nose, and slowly pushed it out through my lips. My dad the put the car in park and I immediately threw open the door, nearly tripping over my own feet in my haste to get out. Tugging a few stray hairs out of my mouth I hurried around to the back of the car and popped open the trunk while my mum and dad climbed out.

"Oh, I can't believe my little princess is starting her last year at boarding school," my mum sniffled into a handkerchief as I pulled out my suitcase.

"Come on Mindy, let her breathe," my dad winked at me and tucked my hair behind my ears. I felt the stress begin to ease out of me like a balloon and relaxed as he turned back to my mum. "Mara's a big girl, she can handle herself."

He wrapped his arms around me and I smiled, letting myself soak in my father's embrace. "I'll send you an email once I get settled in, alright?" I promised.

My dad smiled as I pulled back and grabbed my luggage handle but mum's chin started trembling, right before she burst into inconsolable tears. "My little dearie is going to be graduating to the A Levels this year! Oh she's all grown up!" At this she promptly began wailing and all five foot two inches of her collapsed into my dad's arms. I awkwardly scratched at my temples and glanced around the parking lot to see other students and parents looking at us strangely.

"Mum." I cleared my throat as she continued sobbing into my father's arms. "Mum." I tried again, but to no avail. "Mum!" my voice ratcheted up a few dozen decibels as I finally snared her attention. "People are staring," I whispered sharply, keeping a smile frozen on my face.

With an extremely loud sniff, my mum wiped her tears with the handkerchief enough to throw herself on top of me. "I expect letters duckling. Lots and lots of letters."

"Of course mum," I gasped, tears coming to my eyes as her arms slowly crushed my chest. "Now please let me go, I can't breathe."

"Right, sorry hen." Dabbing at her eyes, she tearfully petted me on the head before making her way back into the car.

I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders as the door closed and pressed a quick kiss to my dad's cheek. "Love you dad."

He squeezed my shoulder and I turned and walked over towards the dorms area as dad got back in the car and powered on the ignition. I did my best to ignore the blush in my cheeks as a few people continued to stare at me. Ducking my head I kept my eyes firmly focused on the gravel road in front of me, placing one foot in front of the other and doing my best to tune out my surroundings. I didn't raise my line of sight until the tearful good-byes of first years and their parents was muted by a significant amount of distance and old-fashioned wooden benches lined the pathways. I felt a swirling sensation begin to boil up in my chest and a smile tugged up the corners of my mouth. I pressed my lips together in an effort to quell my grin before giving up and laughing aloud in excitement as Anubis House drew nearer. I chewed on my bottom lip as energy began to flood into my system and before I knew it my feet were hitting the pavement quicker and quicker and the house was flying nearer and nearer and a laugh was bubbling up inside of my throat. The ground seemed to fall away beneath my black ballet flats as I sprinted up the driveway faster than I'd ever run in any track meet my parents had forced me into. I finally paused after I bolted up the steps, coming to a halt right outside the door. There was a lively ringing in my ears and a searing stitch in my side that I stubbornly ignored as I lifted a hand to the knob. Letting my smile overtake my face, I threw the door open and burst through the coatroom and into Anubis House.

I laughed merrily, feeling exuberant as the familiar smell of Trudy's polish filled my nose and I was once again surrounded by beautiful antiquities and historical architecture. I pushed in the handle of my suitcase and was pulling off my shoulder bag when I heard rapid footsteps.

"Mara!" I turned just in time to catch myself as the ninety-pound cannonball that was my friend and fellow housemate barreled into me.

"Joy!" I smiled, reciprocating the embrace before she pulled back beaming. "How was your summer?"

"Oh it was fantastic!" she exclaimed. "My parents took me for a month-long cruise on the Caribbean that was an absolute blast!"

"Ugh, sounds amazing," I assured her enviously. "I'm sure it was superb."

Joy bobbed her head up and down excitedly, ponytail bouncing along merrily. "And bonus points: I didn't even leave my summer work until last minute this year! I finished it in July! Say you're proud of me!" she playfully begged, eyes twinkling merrily.

Laughing, I tucked my arm in hers and we headed into the living room. "Yes Joy, I'm very proud of you. It takes serious commitment to actually complete your summer homework before the day it's due," I teased.

She stuck out her tongue as walked over to the kitchen where a familiar curly head was bustling in the cupboards. "Hello Trudy!" I called.

Our housemother gave a small start of surprise before turning around, laden down with numerous glasses. "Oh Mara you're back! I thought I heard Joy calling your name, but with my hearing; you never know what you can trust," she winked. Setting down the cups she bustled over and I leaned down into her warm hug, soaking up her lemon-scented sweater that she always wore.

"It's good to see you Trudy," I professed, giving her one last squeeze before pulling back.

"It's good to see you too lovey." Trudy placed a hand on my shoulder and covered her mouth with the other in apparent shock. "You are the same Mara aren't you? I swear you've grown at least an inch or two since I saw you at the end of last term."

I gave a small laugh and rolled my eyes, feeling a bit self-conscious. "Yes Trudy, I am the same Mara," I promised.

She gave me an affectionate pat on the cheek before turning back to grab the cups. "Excellent. Well it's just you and Joy for now, the others haven't arrived yet but I expect Amber should be here soon, her parents said she'd be arriving any minute now." Trudy headed over to the coffee table and Joy and I followed as she continued talking while laying out the cups. "I know Patricia is going to be here in about twenty minutes, she called and said something about nearly forgetting her ill dog, but she was quite panicked so I had a bit of trouble making it out."

"Sick Puppies CD," Joy whispered in my ear, and I nodded to confirm I had heard her.

"Jerome and Alfie are coming together and should be arriving shortly, and according to Fabian's parents he should be here around the same time as Amber."

Trudy headed back over to the kitchen and pulled tinfoil-covered plates out of the fridge, seeming to be finished with her monologue. "What about Nina and Eddie?" I prompted her gently, hoping she hadn't forgotten our American classmates.

"Oh right, how silly of me," Trudy laughed as she brought the plates over to the table and removed the tinfoil, revealing dozens of goodies. "I nearly forgot to mention – their plane was having some technical issues so their flight got a bit delayed. It's nothing to worry about, but I'm afraid they won't be here for a few hours."

"Do you need help unpacking Mara?" Joy asked.

"As long as Trudy doesn't need help," I nodded but Trudy shook her head.

"Don't worry about me sweet girl, I'll be fine. I may be old enough to have one foot in the grave but that doesn't mean I can't still feed the army that is Alfie and Jerome." Trudy laughed at her own self-deprecating joke and I felt myself smile before being tugged away by Joy.

We dragged my things upstairs to the room we shared with Patricia and I dutifully nodded as Joy energetically babbled about how on the cruise with her parents she'd gone snorkeling, went zip-lining, tried out the ropes course, worked on her tan and apparently met more than a few cute boys. "I mean honestly Mara, their accents are to _die_ for," she emphasized as we hung up my jackets in the closet. I 'hmm-ed' with interest and she took that as her cue to keep going, happily filling me in on everything she so much as said, did, or thought about doing and I did my best to listen as we folded the rest of my clothes, but after a while it began to blur together, lulling me into a bit of a stupor.

"Mara are you even listening?"

I jerked at the sound of my name, the cashmere sweater in my hands falling to the ground and gave an apologetic smile in response to Joy's accusing stare. "Sorry Joy, I'm just a bit distracted I guess."

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Fair enough, I suppose I have been talking for a while. How was your summer then?"

"It was great, up until my parents old teams had a reunion I had to go to." Joy grimaced in sympathy at my revelation.

"Eek, that must've been pretty uncomfortable. What happened?" Joy demanded playfully, eager as ever for gossip.

I picked the sweater up from the ground and slid it on a hanger. "It went about as well as can be expected. About sixty-three percent of the people there asked what sport I was playing, no less than seventeen people asked how many medals I'd won already and every time I answered that I actually wasn't that into sports, they just gave me this really weird look and said 'oh' before walking away."

"Sounds horrible," Joy shuddered, folding a pair of jeans.

"Four of them asked me if I was adopted."

Joy gasped. "Oh Mara, you're _joking_."

"Don't I wish," I rolled my eyes. "Suffice to say, it was awkward at best and completely unbearable at worst. I was definitely relieved when it was over."

The sound of a door opening drew our attention as we simultaneously bolted from the room and out to the top of the stairs to see two of our friends returning to the house.

"Amber!" I called, at the same time as Joy shrieked, "Fabes!"

We rapidly ran down the staircase as fast as our feet could carry us and practically tackled the two of them, the loud conversation that followed filling the foyer with warmth, the noise drawing Trudy out.

"Trudy!" Amber squealed, nearly knocking over our housemother in her excitement.

"Oh-ho-ho!" Trudy stepped back from the force of Amber's hug, steadying herself at the last moment as the rest of us laughed good-naturedly. "Careful dearie, I'm afraid my legs aren't what they used to be," Trudy playfully warned her as she squeezed Amber happily. Pulling back, Trudy smiled before her expression transformed into one of shock. "I do declare I'm going to have to give you and Fabian the same warning I gave those two," she pointed to me and Joy. "You all need to stop growing! You're getting too tall," Trudy sniffled as she pulled Amber back in for another hug before making her way to Fabian. "You especially! Your first year here you barely made it to my shoulder, now you've got at least a head on me!" she scolded, tearfully forcing him into a hug.

"Sorry, Trudy, we'll try our best," he laughed. "Is Nina here yet? She texted me her plane took off a few hours ago."

Trudy shook her head. "Sorry sweetie, her and Eddie's flight got delayed, she won't be here for a few hours." Fabian's face fell and I caught a brief look of hurt flash over Joy's face at his nonverbal response before she could conceal it, and concern rose up in me. I didn't know all the details, but last year there had been something of a Joy – Nina – Fabian love triangle that hadn't ended well for my petite friend. Joy had done her best to assure us that she was fine, but the way her expression transformed from happy to exuberant when Fabian pulled her into a hug said otherwise.

"Come on people, none of this dreary doom and boom stuff," Amber commanded.

 _Doom and boom?_ Joy mouthed at me, raising her eyebrows. I shrugged as Amber continued, "This is supposed to be a _happy_ day, remember Fabian? Nina will be here soon and then you two can romantically reunite and hopefully I won't have to play match-maker between you two until next term, if at all." Before any of us could do more than blink at Amber her expression transformed from stern to delighted. "Now come on you three, I have fifteen more suitcases in the drive and they're not going to just magically wheel themselves in here." Spinning on her white sandal-ed toes, Amber held open the door and shooed us all outside.

Surrendering to the blonde beauty's desires, we spent the next ten minutes lugging the remaining fifteen pieces of luggage inside the house, and all sixteen suitcases upstairs to Amber and Nina's room. I was helping Amber sort them into shoes-cases and clothes-cases when Joy and Fabian called for us from downstairs that Alfie and Jerome were here. Amber squealed at such a high octave I was surprised I could still hear her as she practically flew out of the room, me on her heels. I halted at the entrance to the upper hallway though and nervously smoothed down the front of my outfit. Knowing I would be seeing Jerome for the first time in two and a half months today, I had taken extreme care with my outfit this morning, even laying it out the night before. I had chosen my navy blue dress that had white and red polka dots scattered across it with a red ribbon lacing up the front and chosen a navy blue blazer to go with – it was one of my favorite outfits. Reaching up a hand I pulled my dark curls out of my ponytail. I hadn't had time to straighten my hair this morning and was crossing my fingers that it didn't look too terrible. Doing my best to appear calm but unable to keep the smile off of my face, I walked out of the girls' section to the top of the stairs to see Amber running to her boyfriend's outstretched arms.

"Alfie!" she cried excitedly, jumping up to him.

"Hey baby!" he replied joyfully as he picked her up into his arms and spun her in a circle, her pink skirt and white jacket whirling right along with their wearer. I saw them happily kiss each other in the corner of my periphery before I caught sight of a mop of laughing blonde hair at the bottom of the stairs and my vision tunneled. I went down the stairs as quickly as I could without running, a beaming smile stretching itself across my face as Jerome went from making fun of Fabian to realizing I was coming downstairs and turning to look at me.

I reached the bottom and Jerome smirked as the others exchanged pointed looks and shuffled into the living room. "You know Jaffray," he stated casually once we were alone, "I must say you look much better in person. Computer screens really don't do you justice."

I bit my bottom lip to keep from giggling, knowing that if I started I wouldn't be able to stop. "I could say the same about you," I answered, doing my best to keep up with him. I knew before the words left my mouth though that it wouldn't be enough, that just like he always had and probably always would Jerome was managing to throw me off balance, make me feel like I was drowning.

His eyes twinkled with mirth as he took a step closer so that he towered over me. "Are you saying you think I'm good-looking Jaffray?" he teased.

"I'm saying you share the same quality that I and the rest of the human race posses' in that you appear more appealing in person than you do through the pixels of a computer screen," I answered.

Jerome laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not quite sure that that quality applies to everyone Mara. Photoshop exists for a reason you know."

His dark green eyes bored into me and a heady feeling began to enter into me, forcibly kicking out all thoughts related to Photoshop, computers and keeping up with him as he gently brushed a stray hair off of my forehead.

"Mara?" he gently let one hand trail down to my waist, pulling me into him and my throat turned dry as a warm tingling sensation began to take over my body.

"Hmm?" I managed, trying not to sound like a complete idiot.

"I'm going to kiss you now." He moved his other hand to my neck and it was all I could do not to spontaneously erupt into little molecules of happy.

"OK," I choked out, and stood on my tiptoes to reach him as his head ducked down to mine and our lips met.

I fairly exploded as we kissed for the first time after an entire summer apart, and leaned into him for support as I lost all feeling in my legs. My hands moved to his shoulders without me telling them to; after all, how could I when the entirety of my mind was occupied with how Jerome's lips tasted like maple syrup? A pounding filled my temples as he drew me in even closer and I blearily thought that this must be what it was like to feel drunk and if that was the case then maybe I should consider revising my 'no-alcohol-under-any-circumstances-ever' policy when a rather smug voice cut through my mental fog.

"So sorry, am I interrupting something?"

I gasped into the kiss and hastily broke away, my hands flying to my side as I spun around to face a rather gleeful looking, gothic as ever Patricia Williamson.

"Patricia!" I cried happily, desperately trying to fight the blush that rose to my cheeks as we wrapped each other in an embrace. "It's so good to see you!"

"It's great to see you too Mara. Having fun are we?" she cast a pointed look in Jerome's direction and heat rushed into my cheeks as they turned a brighter scarlet than the 'A' emblazoned onto Hester Prynne.

"No," I immediately rushed to defend myself, before mentally kicking my shin. "I mean yes, but, um," I floundered blindly, wishing it were scientifically possible to turn invisible when circumstances demanded it. "Eddie and Nina are going to be here in a few hours," I decided to say instead, changing the topic. "Their flight got delayed but everyone else is here."

Patricia nodded, filing the information before giving me a playful shrug on the shoulder. "Thanks for the tip. Well come on then, let's go say hello shall we?"

"We already said hello Trixie, unlike you we arrived on time," Jerome wrapped an arm around my waist and I automatically leaned into him, unable to help it.

"Cool your jets Clark, I don't hear a pin dropping do you?" Patricia retorted. "Speaking of which, where is old Vicky? Normally he's yelling at us to keep it down by now."

I shrugged. "Not sure. Joy and I were here first and she said she hasn't seen him."

Patricia grinned. "Maybe the thought of having to spend another year chaperoning us was too much for him and he retired early," she suggested.

Laughing at her own joke, she lead the way into the living room and was warmly welcomed by the other Anubis residents, Trudy practically bursting into tears when she saw Patricia had grown two inches over the summer.

The next two and a half hours passed in a blur, a happy, contented blur of positive energy while the Anubis House residents had ourselves a mini-reunion. Alfie and Amber spent nearly the whole time cuddled up on one of the armchairs together, giggling and kissing and taking turns feeding each other sweets. Patricia and Joy spent nearly the entire time on opposite ends of the table involved in a heated debate about whether foreign films were better dubbed over or with sub-titles. Fabian was absent for the first twenty or so minutes while he unpacked his things, and once he returned he alternated between reading a book I couldn't see the title of and commenting on Patricia and Joy's film debate.

Jerome and I mostly kept to ourselves as we sat curled up on a couch together, his arm on my shoulders, my legs pressed against his. At one point, mimicking Alfie and Amber he teasingly pretended to try and feed me a square of fudge, only to smush it against my nose at the last second. I had gasped in shock and mock fury, and promptly turned an entire plate of miniature pastries upside-down on top of his head, causing a food fight to ensue. This of course prompted a gentle chastising from Trudy and so we all helped her clean up afterwards, but surprisingly no word came from the still silent Victor. When we asked Trudy about him she would only say that he was, 'taking care of business'.

When four o'clock rolled around I noticed Fabian glance at his phone for at least the tenth time in five minutes and smiled at him sympathetically.

"Fabian, you do know checking your phone repeatedly won't make her text you any sooner right?" I asked and he looked up at me with a start. "Nina's fine. I'm sure her phone just died or something, but Trudy said her flight landed an hour ago, so she should be here soon."

Fabian gave me a quick smile but I could tell he was still worried, so I resigned myself to him stressing and turned my focus back to my boyfriend, knowing when Nina and Eddie arrived he would finally calm down.

At that moment impassioned voices floated up through the window, growing louder by the second.

"That's cheating!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"How is that cheating?"

"Are you kidding me? How is that _not_ cheating?"

By that time the strange-sounding voices had drawn everyone's attention, and then it clicked why the voices sounded so odd – the owner's had American accents.

"It's Nina and Eddie!" Amber exclaimed joyfully, sitting upright.

"What are they arguing about?" I wondered aloud.

The outside door flew open and the argument ceased as Nina and Eddie ran through the coatroom and into the foyer, both looking around wildly, and they barreled toward the living room the second they saw us.

"Fabian stand up stand up stand up!" Nina cried as the two bolted into the living room. He quickly stood up, looking extremely confused right up until he didn't look anything because Nina had tackled him back onto the couch and kissed him soundly. Meanwhile Eddie had run straight for Patricia and pulled her towards him for a kiss the second he got within arm's reach of her.

Pulling away from the kiss, Nina stood up – leaving a rather dazed looking Fabian on the couch – and placed her hands on her hips as Eddie let go of Patricia and turned to her.

"I won," she declared triumphantly but Eddie shook his head.

"Nuh uh. I totally won," he argued.

Nina rolled her eyes. "In your dreams Miller, you just can't accept that you got a head start and you _still_ couldn't beat me."

"First off, I don't need a head start to beat you. Secondly: _I beat you_ ," Eddie insisted.

Nina threw up her hands in exasperation and turned to me determinedly. "Mara what do you think happened? Did I kiss Fabian first or did Eddie kiss Patricia first?"

I stared at her in confusion for a second as my mind tried to process the question, and when I finally managed to do that I answered Nina in the most, elegant, poised, refined way possible. "What?"

"We had a bet on who could make it to the house first," Nina explained. "And then Eddie said a regular race was boring–"

"–And then Nina smacked me on the head–" Eddie cut in.

"–And so then he suggested that what if it was whoever got to the house and kissed their boyfriend or girlfriend first–"

"–And then she said that was stupid–"

"–And then he said I was just afraid I would lose–"

"–Which got her to agree."

"So we had the taxi drop us off at the foot of the driveway and then raced up here," Nina finished. "And I think that even if Eddie had finished first – which he didn't – I should win anyway since he tripped me running up here."

"I did not trip you," Eddie insisted indignantly. "I strategically stuck my foot out hoping it would inconvenience you and somewhat slow you down."

"Right. In other words you tripped me." Nina rolled her eyes good-naturedly and turned back to me. "So what do you think Mara? Who won?"

I quickly replayed the scene in my head, trying to slow it down. "Well I wasn't exactly timing you but if I had to guess I'd say Nina."

"Ha ha!" she raised her hands in triumph before falling back next to Fabian on the couch in satisfaction. "I told you so!"

"Well of course she took your side," Eddie pretended to pout. "Girls always side with other girls, it's practically a law of science."

Nina shook her head with mock disdain. "Eddie, there are many, many, _many_ laws of science, and I can assure you: that is not one of them. Now don't make me talk anymore I need to catch my breath."

Eddie scowled unhappily. "I don't see why you get to complain, since you apparently won."

"Right, even though _somebody_ cheated," Nina cut her eyes at him pointedly, eyebrows raised.

"Well then Somebody should be ashamed of himself," Eddie deadpanned, keeping his face completely straight.

"Don't you guys need to go get your suitcases?" Alfie piped up.

Nina nodded. "They're at the bottom of the driveway and one of the conditions was that loser gets the luggage. So Eddie has to get them."

Eddie extended a hand to Patricia and bowed. "Wouldst thy strongest Yacker care to help me fetch my and the lady's luggage?" he quirked, letting his lips rise into a grin.

Patricia knocked his hand away and playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Don't be stupid," she replied, sauntering over to the doorway, Eddie following suit.

Rising from the couch I walked over and wrapped Nina in a hug that she happily reciprocated as much as possible while sitting. "It's good to see you Nina!" I professed as I drew away.

Nina smiled at me, running her fingers through her hair. "Thanks Mara, I missed you too. I missed everyone," she admitted, looking around at us.

Amber tossed her long blonde hair and stood up, plopping herself down on the couch next to her best friend. "But you missed me the most I'm sure Neens."

Nina laughed as her blonde roommate pulled her into a hug. "Of course I did Amber," she assured her as I sat back down with Jerome.

"Good answer," Amber winked, before returning to Alfie.

Once Eddie and Patricia returned with the luggage we finished giving him and Nina a proper welcome. We resumed the positions we'd been in before Nina and Eddie arrived with the exception of Fabian, who instead of reading or listening to Joy and Patricia, focused on Nina. Joy easily won the debate because after Eddie arrived he kept 'accidentally' distracting Patricia by insisting on stealing kisses every so often, which stole her focus every time.

"I'm sure your mum means well Mara," Jerome assured me. I had admitted to him how my mum tended to leave me feeling stifled, like on the car ride over for instance.

"I know she does, and part of me feels bad for not liking the way she always looks after me as much as she does." I explained.

Jerome watched me carefully, waiting for me to finish. "But…" he prompted me when nothing was forthcoming.

I sighed. "But, the louder, much more convincing part of me just needs room to breathe. When I'm with her I feel like I'm under a microscope or something." I confessed as he absently fiddled with a piece of my hair, sending goose bumps up and down my legs. "I mean don't get me wrong, she's my mum and I love her; I love both of my parents. It's just easier to love them when they're on the other side of the country."

Jerome laughed at that before cupping my cheek to press another kiss to my lips that I happily sank into.

"What about your parents?" I asked once he'd drawn away and the stars left my vision.

His face stiffened up for the briefest of seconds before he relaxed. "Nothing really, they're fine. Next topic please."

I frowned when I noticed he refused to look at me. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

Jerome shook his head. "Course not. Just not a subject I'm all that keen on talking about is all."

I gently placed a hand on his. "Hey," I said, waiting for him to look at me, not continuing until he did. "Jerome if something's wrong, you know you can tell me right?"

Jerome's eyes turned sad and he closed them briefly, pressing the heel of his hand into his head. I waited for him to calm down, absently tracing the skin of his other hand with my thumb until he was ready.

"Well you see Jaffray," he eventually began. "My dad's whole, spending a good number of years in prison, securing an early release by getting help from his kids and then trying to get visitation rights to said kids didn't really go over all that well with my mum." I watched Jerome as he stiffly cracked his knuckles, seeming to grow angry as he continued, "My parents argued about it for a few weeks, and then mum put her foot down and officially vetoed his permission for visitation rights, and…"

He seemingly grappled with himself, struggling to find the right words as he ran a hand through his hair again. "Jerome, what happened?" I asked gently.

Jerome dragged his hand down his face and sighed. "They've engaged in a custody battle," he whispered quietly, like the very words pained him.

My mouth fell open in shock, already forming the 'what' as my brain struggled to wrap itself around this heartbreaking new development. But before I could get a word out, a rather grouchy sounding voice cut through our separate conversations.

"What is with all the racket?" demanded a rather sour-looking Victor as he slouched into the room, looking murderous.

We all looked at each other nervously, silently begging someone else to answer him.

"Well?" he demanded, strolling around the coffee table. "Speak up!"

"Don't you think it's a little early to start the noise police routine Victor?" Alfie looked at our housemaster curiously.

Victor turned away from glaring at Patricia and menacingly stalked towards Alfie. "What was that Lewis?" he growled.

Alfie shrugged innocently, seemingly unaware of the danger he was in. "Well you see Victor, it's only the first day back. Normally you wait until we've unpacked before you really crack down on the 'no noise above a rather loud whisper' rule," he explained, visibly fighting to keep the cheerful smile off his lips and failing miserably.

Victor's mustache ruffled slightly as he harshly exhaled through his nose. "You children need to understand that when I am telling you to be quiet it is an order, not a request. Now cease this ridiculous chatter at once!" He snapped, a fleck of spit landing on Amber's jacket sleeve making her shudder in disgust.

Victor looked around at all of us and I tried to swallow down the lump in my throat, vainly attempting to calm my breathing. _You haven't done anything wrong_ , I kept reminding myself. _You haven't done anything wrong_.

"Would someone care to explain what you all were yelling about anyway?" Victor demanded impatiently. "Hmm?"

All of a sudden, Nina gasped and I looked at her to see sheer terror written across her face before she leapt from the couch and practically tackled her suitcase to the ground. It landed with a thump and my brain suddenly went on rewind. It _landed_? I didn't have much time to think on it however as I watched Nina shift her position so that she was sitting on top of her suitcase and attempt to smile winningly at Victor as he scowled at her.

"Miss Martin, what are you doing?" Victor scowled, leering over her. "Stand up this instant!"

Nina laughed nervously, doing her best to appear calm and even though I had less than zero ideas why she had suddenly dive-bombed her luggage I felt sorry for her. "Well Victor," Nina began, and even I could tell that she was desperately stalling, "I suddenly remembered, that… I hadn't… fulfilled, the American tradition of christening my luggage yet."

I nearly winced at the clumsiness of her excuse. I'd been there with Mr. Sweet before, and had made Patricia swear never to speak of 'the hedgehog incident' again.

Victor was not amused. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.

Panic flashed across Nina's face again and she briefly stood, only to once again throw herself back down on the luggage. "It's an American tradition," she explained, "To sit on your suitcase if you fly across the ocean. And I suddenly remembered that I hadn't yet and if you don't do it within the first couple hours of landing you're cursed with two years' worth of bad luck." She blew a hair out of her face and turned to Eddie. "And after you sit on it for thirty seconds you need a friend to sit on it with you. Eddie!" she gestured for him desperately. "Come here!"

Eddie briefly stared at her and I watched in mild amazement as the two had an entirely silent conversation in the span of a few seconds before understanding flashed across Eddie's face and he walked over and plopped himself down next to Nina. "Like she said Vicky, it's an American tradition," he grinned jovially. "Can't fault us for fulfilling our heritage can you?"

Victor scrutinized them carefully while the rest of us waited with bated breath for the explosion we were sure was coming. When he finally scowled and stalked out muttering about 'wretched children' the entire room seemed to exhale with relief once he was gone.

Nina leapt to her feet and nervously ran a hand through her hair. "Be right back, I'm going to put my suitcase in my room."

"I'll help you," Eddie offered, and the two practically flew from the room, Nina's luggage in tow.

The rest of us stared at each other curiously, until Joy asked the question we were all thinking. "What was that about?"

I shrugged. "No idea."

Amber rose to her feet and brushed imaginary dust off of her outfit. "Nor do I. But I intend to find out." Placing a quick peck on Alfie's cheek she did a one-eighty degree turn and was about to march out of the room after the Americans when our housemother entered.

"Dinner time lovelies," Trudy called as she brushed off her hands. The smile transformed into confusion as she took us in. "What happened? You all look more confused than Alfie did when I told him hamburgers weren't made of actual ham."

I felt Jerome shrug. "We're struggling to understand our American housemates travel traditions is all Trudy. No reason to worry."

We gathered around the table and a few minutes later, a slightly panicked looking Nina and considerably calmer Eddie joined us. I felt Jerome nudge my foot under the table and ducked my head as I blushed before looking back up to see him wink at me. I deeply inhaled the scents of Trudy's homemade signature 'Welcome Back Sweeties' dinner and looked around the table at all of my classmates – no, at all of my friends. Nina was laughing at something Fabian had told her, Eddie was ducking a punch Patricia threw at him, Alfie and Amber were in their own little world and Joy was alternating between egging on Patricia and warning Eddie of upcoming attacks. I heard laughter in my ears and I felt so happy I could cry as I looked at Jerome, looked around at the beautiful house that I loved so much and smiled.

This sensation right here, this feeling of absolute and utter content and elation. This was home.


	3. Chapter 3: Nina

**Nina**

Everyone at the table applauded as Trudy brought out a triple-layer double chocolate cake for dessert. "Let's see some store bought cake of Vera's top this!" she declared proudly, slicing it into pieces and placing them down in front of us.

"This looks totes amaze Trudes," Joy declared in awe.

"Hear, hear!" Eddie chimed in enthusiastically – at least I think that's what he was saying, but he'd already stuffed a forkful and a half of cake in his mouth so it was hard to tell.

Amber didn't take one however, and Alfie's jaw just about hit the floor. "How can you say no to this Ambs?" he demanded, aghast that she was giving up her portion.

Amber looked at him in pity while absently grooming her flawless nails, picking at an imaginary hangnail. "Alfie we had pot roast for dinner and so I already ate roast beef, potatoes, carrots and celery. If I have cake too, I'll have to run it off before bedtime and you _know_ how much I dislike sweating."

Alfie opened his mouth to argue but Jerome cut him off. "Let her be Alfie, more for you isn't it?"

"So Nina, when am I going to learn what it is that you were looking forward to?"

I blinked in surprise before tugging my attention away from the cake debate and over to Fabian. I propped my hand underneath my chin and smiled slyly at him. "Actually it hasn't happened yet, but I can guarantee you will be finding out very shortly."

Fabian sighed in disappointment, and I nearly died from how adorable his action was. "What does very shortly qualify as?"

"Oh, sometime after dinner I'm sure," I hinted, undoubtedly enjoying this far more than I should be.

Fabian raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Yeah, because that narrows it down," he grinned. "So very shortly qualifies as some point in the four and a half hours between the end of dinner and Victor's pin dropping."

"I knew you'd understand," I winked. I reached out to gently push his shoulder but he caught my hand in his and my breath halted as he lowered our now joint hands to the table and gently stroked my knuckles with his thumb.

"Hey Nina can I borrow you for a minute?" I looked to my right to see Eddie kneeling beside me, looking slightly anxious.

I raised an eyebrow and subtly jerked my eyes in Fabian's direction. "Can't it wait?"

Eddie dramatically blew out a breath and mimed a deeply thoughtful expression as he pretended to think about it and I rolled my eyes. "Yeh – no. I need to talk to you."

I bit back a sigh and cast an apologetic look at Fabian. "I'll show you what I'm looking forward to after I help Eddie with whatever it is he's so jumpy about. I promise."

Fabian opened his mouth to reply but Eddie interrupted. "Yes and then he says OK you stare at each other lovingly and you kiss him good-bye so we're going to skip all that since this discussion is about a very important topic. Let's go."

I didn't even have time to blush before my Osirian grabbed my wrist and promptly tugged me from the table, up the stairs and into the girls' bathroom where he locked the door.

"Eddie, what do you need to discuss that is apparently so urgent it couldn't wait until dinner was over?" I folded my arms and perched myself on the edge of the bathtub, arching an eyebrow as I waited for his response.

"What I want to discuss is what we're going to do the next time that book of yours magically makes your suitcase float, because I'm pretty sure there was another way that situation could have been handled." Eddie leaned against the wall next to the sink and jammed his hands in his pockets, staring at me earnestly.

A scowl rose to my lips before I could stop it. "My suitcase was levitating about half a foot in the air and getting higher by the second, what did you want me to do? Wait for someone to point it out?" I defended myself.

Eddie shook his head. "I'm not saying your… 'method'," he made dramatically big air quotes and smirked at me as he continued, "Didn't get the job done. The problem is, tackling your luggage is hardly subtle so we need to find a way to make sure your book stays grounded. Last thing we want is Victor finding out about this and confiscating it for his, 'research'."

I shrugged. "Well from what we can tell, the book's in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, so chances are even if Victor does steal it, he probably won't be able to read it."

Eddie smirked. "Well from what we can tell," he mimicked me, winking to let me know it was on purpose, "It's still Victor we're dealing with so chances are, he will be able to read it."

Throwing back my head I puffed my cheeks up with air and slowly exhaled, drumming my fingers against the bathtub and staring at the smooth white ceiling.

"You know Chosen One, staring at the ceiling and just waiting for a good idea to come to you is not going to make a good idea come to you."

He smirked at me and I arched an eyebrow. "Oh, and I'm assuming you speak from experience?"

Pretending to gasp, Eddie, clutched his stomach and sank slowly down the wall. "Ouch, Chosen One. Way to hit me where it hurts."

I laughed, before sliding off the tub to join him on the floor. "What if I just keep the book with me at all times?"

"You mean like never let it out of your sight at all times, or just know where it is at all times?" he clarified.

"First one," I mumbled, feeling exhaustion from jet lag begin to kick in. I yawned and felt my head loll to the side where it landed on Eddie's shoulder, the lights beginning to swim in my vision.

A knock on the door startled us to our feet. "Nina? If you're in there it's Amber and I've been walking down the hall banging on doors looking for you because Trudy says we need to unpack." I pressed my fingertips into my eyes and shook my head, trying to force the tiredness away as footsteps walked away from the door and Amber repeated the same message at the next door down the hall.

"I'll just keep it in my book bag whenever I'm at school, and figure out some way or another to keep it with me while I'm here," Eddie gave me a thumbs up before pulling open the bathroom door and following me out.

"Over here Amber," I called.

My blonde roommate whirled around, hands going to her hips when she spotted me. " _There_ you are Nina! I've been looking for you for _ages_ and I've knocked on nearly every door up here and I just got a manicure done yesterday so that means I put myself at risk of ruining my beautiful nails for your sake. You're welcome."

"Um, thank you?" I turned to Eddie, hoping he would have answers but he looked just as confused as I was and simply shrugged at me.

"Come on Neens, I have sixteen suitcases worth of outfits to unpack and because I risked ruining my manicure for you, you're going to help me." Amber looped her arm through mine and I nearly tripped as she pulled me down the hall to our room to start unpacking.

At least I thought we were going to be unpacking, until Amber shut the door and leaned against it, looking at me expectantly. "So?"

"Um," I looked around the room in confusion. "So, what?"

Amber huffed impatiently and tossed her hair over her shoulder. " _So_ , are you going to tell me what that funny business downstairs was about or not?"

A nervous laugh burst out of my lips before I could stop it and I dug my nails into my palm in an attempt to calm down. "Wh-what are you talking about?" I turned around so she couldn't see my face and began to open my bag in an attempt to have something to do with my hands.

"I'm talking about you attacking your suitcase. Duh," Amber explained slowly. "That whole christening your luggage thing? You've never done that before, so call me crazy, but I say that you're hiding something from Victor. And whenever you're hiding something from Victor, it's Sibuna related. So are we back on or not?"

I stopped unzipping my suitcase, and took a slow breath before standing up and turning to face Amber, doing my best not to let my face give away the lie I was about to tell. "No, Amber. Sibuna is not back on. I was just trying to mess with Victor."

Amber 'hmmed', tapping her chin slowly as she thoughtfully circled me, eyeing my face. I forced myself to not blink, ignoring the cold fingers tracing their way down my back. "Alright!" my roommate's expression transformed from suspicion to her regular enthusiasm and she promptly sat down at her vanity to begin unpacking her makeup.

I stared at her for a second, mouth opening and closing, not comprehending what I was seeing. "Wait you – you believe me?"

Amber nodded, pulling out her first few containers of eye shadow. "Of course I do. You've changed the subject, avoided me and made some _very_ creative twists to the truth before but you've never lied to me. If you say it's not Sibuna related I believe you."

"Oh." A golf-ball sized lump of guilt rose up in my throat, making it hard to breathe. "OK then." I knelt next to my bag and unpacked my clothes while Amber happily chatted on about how she'd gone to Fashion Camp over summer break and how it had been absolutely amazing but I barely heard her, concentrating on keeping tears from jumping to my eyes. I was surprised I felt so guilty, but I supposed I shouldn't have been. Amber was right after all; I'd never lied to her before.

I'd never lied to _Fabian_ before.

I froze and my bathrobe slid through my hands into a heap on the floor as a pounding filled my ears. Remembering how dangerous our quest for the Mask of Anubis had turned out to be last year, Eddie and I had agreed to do our best to keep Sibuna out of whatever was currently happening to me. But I hadn't realized until this second that that would mean lying to Fabian. If I slipped up and he suspected that something was going on, I was going to have to look him right in the eye and lie to him.

"Nina? Helloo-ooo?" Amber snapped her fingers in front of my face and I jerked in surprise. "Are you all right?" she asked loudly and clearly. "Do you need mouth to mouth?"

"What? No!" I snatched my robe up from the floor and walked over to the dresser hurriedly. "I don't need – nor do I want – nor will you ever give me – mouth to mouth."

Amber shrugged, and walked back over to her vanity, idly humming to herself.

I blew out a shaky breath and ran my fingers through my hair, pressing my lips together. I didn't even know if I _could_ lie to Fabian, it wasn't like I was all that of an amazing liar to begin with. Maybe he wouldn't notice anything was wrong. Maybe if he did he wouldn't suspect it was Sibuna related. Maybe the lady from my dream would slip a magic potion in his breakfast every morning to make him freakishly gullible.

Yeah right. And maybe Victor was going to adopt me.

There was a knock on our bedroom door. "Come in unless you're Victor but I know you're not Victor because Victor never knocks so come in!" Amber called.

"Nina?" Speak of the devil. Fabian poked his head in the door and started to come over to where I was unpacking but Amber leapt out of her chair and jumped in front of him, barring his path. "You can't go over there are you crazy?"

I bit back a laugh, as Fabian looked at Amber in confusion, gesturing to himself, Amber and me before finally finding his voice. "But, but you said to come in," he reminded her.

Amber folded her arms and pushed back her shoulders. "Right. I said to come in. I did _not_ say to go over to where Nina is unpacking, I mean honestly Fabian, are you _completely_ out of your mind?"

I continued unpacking, straining my ears to continue to hear the conversation taking place, curious about where Amber was going with this.

"Amber, what's the big deal?" Fabian asked and unable to help myself I snuck a peak over my shoulder just in time to see him give Amber a look of bewilderment that he somehow managed to make look really attractive.

Amber sighed and sadly patted Fabian on the shoulder, looking at him with pity. "Fabian, drop the act. I am not letting you near your girlfriend's suitcase, not today, not tomorrow, not at the end of the year or anywhere in between."

"Why not?" he folded his arms.

"Be-cause," Amber drew out the word, speaking slowly, "Girls keep our clothes in our suitcases." She waited for him expectantly, sighing when Fabian still didn't get the point. Deciding to finish unpacking my almost empty suitcase later I shoved it underneath my bed and stood up, feeling like I should know where this conversation was going. "You see Fabian, girls have certain items of clothing that we don't necessarily want boys to see, nor should boys see them until such a time as a boy and a girl have reached a certain milestone in their romantic relationship."

My face turned bright red as I realized where she was going with this and I darted in between them before Amber could elaborate on what she meant and Fabian realized what she was saying. "OK then Amber, I think he gets the idea."

My roommate tilted her head at me innocently. "Does he though Nina? Does he really?"

"Yes, he really does Amber," I tried to smile but I was so nervous it probably looked more like a grimace. I couldn't help it though – I had moments to get Fabian out of the room before he understood why Amber wouldn't let him near my suitcase and the situation got very awkward, very fast. "So we are going to move this conversation elsewhere. OK?"

Amber's face fell and her focus shifted from the old problem to this new one. "But Nina you were meant to help me unpack," she reminded me, turning on the puppy-dog eyes.

"I will help you once Fabian and I have finished our conversation, sound good?" Not giving Amber much time to answer I turned around and practically shoved Fabian out the door, yanking it shut behind us and exhaling in relief when it clicked shut.

"So," I turned to him expectantly. "What did you want to talk about?"

Fabian frowned and held up a hand. "Before we talk about that, can you tell me what Amber was talking about in there?"

My cheeks turned pink and I tried to swallow away the dryness in my throat. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," Fabian assured me, "But what does that have to do with–"

"Then trust me when I say that you do not need to know what Amber was talking about," I interrupted.

Fabian tilted his head, considering my words and nodded. "Alright. So what do you think are the chances she's eavesdropping right now?"

Amber's voice through the door caused me to turn around in surprise. "Just because you can't tell that I'm listening to every single word you're saying does not mean that I'm eavesdropping!"

I pressed a hand to my mouth to quiet my laughter, and pointed down the hallway to the infamous door and Fabian nodded in agreement. Wrapping his hand in mine I intertwined our fingers, pulling him over to the attic. Tugging an ever-present bobby pin out of my hair, I slid it into the lock, jimmying until I heard a click and the door swung open.

I lead Fabian up the stairs, pausing to let him close the door behind us and a thrill ran through me as we darted up to the attic, as though we were clandestine lovers in one of my gran's cheesy old romance novels.

"I like this place a lot better now that Vera's stuff is out of it," I confessed. Once Vera had 'moved out', Victor had vetoed any more of Trudy's efforts to turn the attic into a suitable place for human beings to reside in and it had once more become the place where stuff went to die. Hands still linked, we sat down on an upturned chest, our pressed together knees making me feel like my heart was trying to win a marathon it was pounding so fast.

"Nina, it's been an hour since dinner, and I've been patient, so will you please tell me what the big secret is?" Fabian pressed our intertwined hands against his chest and looked at me expectantly.

I twirled a piece of hair with my free hand, smiling at him tauntingly. "Wouldn't you like to know," I teased.

Fabian shrugged his head as though considering, fighting back a smile. "Yeah, I kinda would," he affirmed.

"Wellll…" I dragged the word out until he groaned in impatience.

"Nina!"

I felt the small laugh bubble out of my lips and ducked my head, before tossing back my hair. "How about a trade?"

Fabian raised his eyebrows quizzically. "A trade?"

I nodded, nervously licking my lips. "You give me something I want, and I will tell you whatever you want to know."

"Done," Fabian asserted, before quickly backtracking and adding, "Provided it doesn't involve anything too humiliating."

"Come on, when have I ever asked you to do anything like that?" I let my eyes twinkle at him as I chewed by bottom lip and he laughed.

"Alright, so what do you want?" He had absently started tracing the skin between my index finger and thumb again and it made me temporarily lose my train of thought.

Clearing my throat, I nervously wrapped a few strands of hair around my finger and pulled before steeling my nerves and voicing my request. "I want you to kiss me."

Fabian blinked as though he'd heard me wrong. "You… what?"

I hurried to explain myself. "It's just, last year we went through that whole date-without-really-dating thing for like two weeks and then, well, we broke up – or, you broke up with me – because we didn't seem to be working as a couple and I could be way off but I feel like part of it is because we just, we never really got the chance to, well, you know, kiss once we got back to school and I don't want to break up this year and I know I kissed you earlier because of that race thing with Eddie but that was different, that was in front of people and rushed and not intimate at all and I'm pretty sure I'm rambling now so I'm just going to shut up and tell you what I was–"

I was interrupted by Fabian cupping my cheek and gently pressing his lips to mine. My eyelids fluttered closed and I kissed him back, fireworks whirling throughout my body until I thought I would dissolve. His lips were soft and firm under mine and I placed a hand on Fabian's chest as I leaned into the kiss, afraid that if I didn't I would melt right into him. His hand moved from cupping my cheek to tenderly nestling itself in my hair and the motion seemed to replace my blood with lightning that raced from where our lips were connected to my fingers and toes and I wouldn't have been surprised if my hair was standing up straight from the sheer electricity coursing through me.

Fabian slowly pulled away and I reminded myself to breathe as my eyes flickered open and I bit back a giggle. "That was a really good way of getting me to stop talking," I murmured happily, pushing my hair out of my face where it had fallen.

He gave a small laugh and a blush rose to my cheeks as I cleared my throat. "So, do you remember in May last year on your birthday I gave you that 'IOU' card that said I would give it to you next year because I was ordering it and couldn't afford international shipping rates?" Fabian nodded and I continued, "Well I got it the week after I went back to America and it is currently hiding in my suitcase, waiting to be delivered to you."

Fabian grinned excitedly, his eyes lighting up. "Wait you mean I'm actually getting a birthday present from you?"

I nodded. "Of course. Why wouldn't you?"

He shrugged. "Well three years ago Joy did something like that, gave me an IOU card for my birthday present, and three years later I still haven't gotten it."

"What are you saying you think I'm like Joy?" Leaning back I unclasped our hands and raised an eyebrow and Fabian seemed to realize he was in the danger zone.

"No! No of course not! Not at all, I think you're nothing like Joy! I just thought it was some sort of girl trick or something to give someone an IOU card and keep saying they'll get it later until they forget about it."

I turned away from him and chewed the inside of my lip. "Yeah OK."

Fabian sighed in disappointment. "Nina, please don't do this. I don't think you're anything like Joy." When I didn't say anything in response, he added, "I can prove it."

I turned back to him and folded my arms expectantly. "How?"

He gave me a little smile and gently unfolded my arms, taking both my hands in his. "Because I wouldn't date Joy."

I felt a grin fighting to form on my lips and stubbornly rolled my lips inside my mouth to try and fight it. "You're smiling I can tell," Fabian declared happily.

"No I'm not," I said quickly, ducking my head to try and hide my borderline-exuberant facial expression.

Fabian didn't back down. "Yes you are," he insisted. "You always do that thing with your mouth where you try and hide your lips whenever you don't want anyone to know you're smiling." Giving up, I raised my head, letting him see me laugh and he sweetly tucked a piece of my hair behind my ears. "So am I forgiven?" he asked.

I tilted my head, pretending to consider and then extricated one of my hands from his. Placing it on the back of his neck I pulled his lips into mine and kissed him fondly, gladly forgoing a little bit of oxygen in exchange for the contact. "Yes you're forgiven," I answered after we broke apart, foreheads touching.

Footsteps coming up the stairs startled us back into our own realms of personal space – aside from our still joined hands. "Nina? Fabian? Are you up here?" called a voice that sounded an awful lot like Patricia.

"Yeah, we're up here," I called back.

She rounded the corner and poked her head in. "About time, I've been looking for you for ages. Sibuna reunion in here at midnight tonight."

We nodded and Patricia gave us a thumbs up before heading back downstairs.

"So Nina, do you think Sibuna is going to be starting up again this year?" Fabian asked and I swallowed down the guilt in my throat.

"Who knows?" I laughed, fighting to keep my voice light before hurriedly changing the topic. "Come on, I want to finally give you your four months late birthday present."

Not giving him time to respond I stood and tugged him back down the stairs to mine and Amber's room, but he paused at the door. "Won't Amber give me the third-degree if I set foot in there again?" he worried.

I shook my head. "I'm pretty much finished unpacking this time, it should be good."

Twisting the handle, we headed inside and he sat on the bed while I tugged out my luggage and Amber finished subcategorizing her suitcases. Shoe-cases by type, heel height and color, and clothes-cases by tops, skirts, jeans, dresses and miscellaneous.

Grabbing the wrapped present I shoved my suitcase back so he wouldn't see the book and pressed Fabian's gift into his hands. "Open it," I insisted, practically bouncing in a hybrid of excitement and nervousness.

"Aw, is this going to be a really cute, scrapbook-worthy Fabina moment?" Amber sighed wistfully, pressing her hands together.

"OK Amber first: I told you, neither of us scrapbook, and second: it's not a huge deal, I'm just finally giving Fabian his birthday present." I sat on the bed next to him, making sure to sit on top of my hands to make sure I didn't bite my nails.

Amber 'aww-ed', again and declared that we had five minutes and then I had to help her unpack because she nearly broke a nail already and all the stress could cause wrinkles before bouncing out of the room.

Fabian untied the springy blue ribbon, pulling it off the package and carefully unfolded the forest green, white polka-dotted wrapping paper. His face lit up like a little kid on Christmas morning as he slid the paper off and saw what I'd gotten him and I felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. "It's a new copy of _The Solar System Is Your Friend_!" he said excitedly and I shakily exhaled, words unable to express my relief that he actually liked it.

"And," I opened it to the second page and pointed at the inky signature. "It's autographed." Fabian laughed in delight and I pulled my hands out from underneath me, my nervousness evaporating as I explained, "I thought you could use a replacement after you burned yours for your Sibuna sacrifice two years ago."

Fabian clutched the book and turned a wide smile on me, opening and closing his mouth before pulling me into a tight hug. "Thank you Nina," he said sincerely, hands pressed into my back, keeping me close.

I hugged him back, letting my head rest in the crook between his neck and shoulder. "Don't mention it," I murmured.

We sat like that for awhile, one of his free hands running through my hair over and over again as he kept trying to pull me closer and I thought he must've done something to fill my nervous system with bubbles because I felt as though I were flying. Until I heard a dreamy 'awww!', at which I promptly jerked away from Fabian like it scalded me to touch him and immediately stood up to see Amber staring at us happily. "You guys are so good together!" she proclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. Just as quickly as I'd stood up, Amber's body language shifted from gushing to stern and she marched over to the bed. "Now shoo, Nina needs to help me unpack." Tugging Fabian up she lead him to the door, ignoring his protests, and shut the door behind him. Firmly brushing off her hands Amber flounced over to her piles of suitcases and I resigned myself to spending the rest of my evening trapped in the room.

For the next two and a half hours, Amber instructed me on everything about helping her unpack, from how to properly open up her suitcases to the correct way of folding her tops. When she tried to tell me how to coordinate her hangers by material however, I drew the line and made her finish herself.

"Amber, I opened your suitcases – top to bottom – I sub-subcategorized your subcategories, I put away all your shoes in order of seasons, I folded all your jeans and non-wrinkle tops, I put all your skirts, dresses and can-be-wrinkled tops on hangers and I put the rest of your clothes away. I think you can finish up." Amber sighed in disappointment but gave in, mumbling a disgruntled ' _fine_ ' as she moved over to hang her clothes up in their proper order.

Shaking my head in fond disbelief, I went back over to my side of the room to make my bed. I'd almost finished when a thought struck me. "Hey Amber, was that really necessary by the way?"

"Was what necessary?" Amber asked, finishing up the last of her hangers.

"The whole, not letting Fabian near me while I was unpacking my stuff deal," I clarified.

Amber huffed and folded her arms at me, head tilted, eyebrows raised. "Well Neens I'm sorry but did you _want_ Fabian seeing your bras?"

A faint blush crept into my cheeks as I opened my mouth but then closed it with a shrug. "Fair point," I admitted.

By the time we finished setting up our room we only had about thirty minutes left until Victor got out his pin so I hopped in the shower and had just finished pulling my pajamas on when a knock sounded on the door. "One second," I called. Pulling my towel out of my hair I gave a small shiver as my damp curls landed on my back, sending water into my cotton shirt. I touched my locket and quickly checked my reflection in the mirror. "OK I'm coming."

I pulled open the door and blinked when I was greeted with none other than my not quite a friend but she saved my boyfriend's life so not really my enemy – Joy Mercer.

"Hey Nina," Joy said, a stiff looking smile plastered onto her face. "Amber said you were here, can I come in?"

"Well. I don't know why you would want to have a conversation we could be having in the living room in the bathroom," I smiled tightly, "But sure. Why not?"

Joy gave a nervous little laugh and stepped inside. "Thanks, because this actually isn't the type of conversation you want to have in the living room," she explained as she shut and locked the door.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Why, is this the part where you kill me?"

"No but don't worry I've got that scheduled for next week," Joy joked and I cleared my throat.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I considered sitting down for about two seconds before deciding to just lean on the sink.

Joy puffed her cheeks and blew out a breath, swinging her hands back and forth. "Right, well, see I just wanted to hear it from one of you that, you and Fabian, you're… are you off or on?"

I was suddenly very glad that I'd decided to lean against the sink because when I folded my arms and straightened up it added about another three inches to the two or so I already had on Joy. I smiled at her tightly and said, "Fabian and I are most definitely _on_ , Joy. Are we done now?"

She shook her head. "Not quite."

"So since we've already established that Fabian and I are on," I repeated, just in case she'd missed it the first time, "What do we still need to discuss?"

Joy gave me a pained look. "Well, you see Nina, I want Fabian to be happy. And so if he's happy with you, then I'll respect that. I just…" she paused and cast her hands about before clasping them under her chin. "I'm just not sure that you're good for him."

I blinked. I blinked again. And then I pinched myself hard to make sure I wasn't experiencing a vivid hallucination. _Give her the benefit of the doubt_ , I decided, striving to bring a smile to my face and keep it there, although it probably looked more like I was bearing my teeth. "Thank you Joy," I said, my words coming out a little muffled as I struggled to maintain my frozen smile. "For your consideration. May I ask what makes you so sure I am not good for him?"

Joy nodded, looking relieved. "See I remember how after you two broke up last year Fabian struggled to get over you and he was really unhappy and I don't want that for him and when you two break up again–"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I cut her off and gave a little laugh of disbelief. "What do you mean, _when_ , we break up?" _Benefit of the doubt, benefit of the doubt_.

Joy shrugged. "Well you know, you two broke up last year and got back together and the first phase of a relationship tends to dictate the rest of it so I just figured you guys were going to have one of those on-again off-again things."

 _And benefit of the doubt goes out the window_. "Joy, I am going to say this, as clearly as I possibly can so that there is no chance of any kind of misunderstanding. Fabian and I are together. As a couple. We are going to be staying together. As a couple. We are not going to be breaking up. Meaning he is not going to be available for you to swoop in and steal."

"Now hang on a second Nina I don't steal boyfriends," Joy insisted.

"You know that's so funny Joy because you keep saying that but I remember last year how we were still together and you kept throwing yourself at him at every single opportunity, so just try and tell me that isn't boyfriend stealing," I snapped.

"What are you two still doing up?" Joy and I turned from our argument that was really more of us taking turns trying to bite each other's heads off to the door in panic before we realized it was still closed. "Mister Clark, Mister Lewis, stop pressing your ears against the bathroom door this instant and go downstairs."

I felt my jaw drop. I felt indignation swirl up in my stomach and I firmly yanked the door open to see a not-ashamed-at-all-looking Alfie and Jerome, facing off against a rather disgruntled looking Victor, who promptly turned towards us. And just when I thought I'd seen every shade of red Victor could turn. "And you two!" Victor's hands fidgeted all around angrily as though he were either trying to fight off an imaginary swarm of gnats or having a miniature seizure. "What is everyone still doing up, you have fifteen minutes to get to bed and I have business to attend to so I want you to finish getting ready for sleep and of course once you have, I shall as always, want to be able to hear a pin drop."

My cheeks filled with enough heat to pass for an oven furnace as Victor turned and headed downstairs. I was about to leave before I turned back to Joy, unable to resist throwing something in her face. "Oh and just for the record Joy, you may think he, 'struggled to get over me'," I mimicked harshly, "But the truth is, Fabian _never_ got over me." Whirling around I stalked back to my room, keeping my jaw locked and fighting back tears of anger before I did something I regretted.

"Amber," I demanded, wrapping my arms around myself and holding on tight. "Does the first phase of a relationship dictate the rest of it?"

My blonde friend looked up from where she was braiding her hair to me. "What?"

"If two people breakup and then get back together does that automatically mean they're going to have an on-again off-again relationship?" I asked.

Amber shrugged and turned back to the mirror. "Well it depends on the length of time in between the breaking up and getting back together. If the couple breaks up for two to five days and then gets back together, sixty-eight percent of magazines show that those relationships are more likely to turn into on-again off-again relationships. If the breakup lasts a significant length of time and _then_ the couple gets back together, in my opinion it's meant to be."

"So you don't think Fabian and I are doomed to have an on-again off-again thing?" I clarified.

Amber sighed and shook her head. "Of course not Nina, where on earth did you ever get such a ridiculous idea?"

I felt my shoulders relax. If the official Anubis relationship guru said Fabian and I weren't going to be constantly breaking up, I would gladly take her word over Joy's. "It doesn't matter," I insisted. "Come on, we should finish getting ready. If Victor can't hear a pin drop he'll be up here asking Corbierre to peck our tongues out."

Amber squealed and clapped her hands over her ears. "OK that's a mental image I can realllllllly do without!"

I laughed and tucked my locket into my shirt. "Good night Amber. Wake me up at midnight?"

She took her hands off of her ears and looked at me. "What?" I smiled and repeated my question. "Oh right, of course," Amber nodded.

I mumbled a thanks, flipped off the lights and pulled back the covers. "Sweet dreams," I yawned, nestling into the pillow. I let my eyes drift closed, allowing the jet lag to come back and I yawned again as sleep swirled over me.∞

* * *

∞Eddie was waiting for me when I got down to the Sibuna reunion. "Where are the others?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Not sure."

A strange scent tickled the inside of my nose and I frowned. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" he asked, walking over.

I inhaled deeply, trying to figure out what it was that I was smelling. "That. That, earthy… dirty… smelling… scent, thing."

Eddie smirked at me. "Yes, because that wonderful explanation just made everything crystal clear."

I rolled my eyes and punched him in the shoulder. "Shut up. Honestly though, how do you not smell that?"

Eddie raised his hands in defeat and sniffed deeply, an odd expression coming to his face. "Wait, I do smell that. Like we're in a forest or something."

"Exactly," I said. "Which is strange because we're not in a forest, we're in the basement which I'd expect to be smelling of Victor's chemicals and stuff." I waved my hands around the cellar and just about jumped out of my skin. "Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this place just full of tables covered in weird alchemy things?"

Eddie frowned in confusion, looking around at the empty room. "I thought so."

"Huh," I muttered, and blinked as I realized Eddie seemed to be having an extremely rapid growth spurt. "Eddie why are you growing taller?"

"What?" he looked down at himself and then back at me and he paled. "OK Nina, don't freak out but – I'm not growing taller. You're sinking."

"What are you talking about?" I rolled my eyes in disbelief only to look down and yelp in shock and fear. "I'm sinking. I'm sinking! Why am I sinking!" The cellar floor had transformed into a thick, muddy substance that I was already knee-deep in and as I tore my eyes away from my encased legs I noticed that the walls were now old, made of stone and covered in moss. "Eddie what's happening?" I cried.

I was hoping with every fiber of my being that he would have an answer but he only threw out his hands in disbelief. "I don't know."

I shrieked as my body suddenly lurched down another six inches at least so that the ground was now covering everything up to my ribs. "Eddie!" The call had barely left my lips when his hands were on my wrists and he was tugging me up. My one-way ticket underground seemed to pause as my Osirian strained to pull me up and I experienced momentary relief before the mud began slithering its way up my body, reaching dirty little fingers up to my chest. "Do something," I begged as my locket was submerged. Eddie's grip on me was so tight I feared if he held on any tighter he'd pull my wrists right off but it wasn't tight enough. The ground kept crawling its way up my body, making me shudder in disgust as it stuck to my skin.

"So this is who the goddess chooses?" I turned at the introduction of a new voice, momentarily forgetting that Eddie and the ground were playing tug-of-war with my body and the ground was winning.

A woman was walking towards us out of a hall I hadn't noticed before. She stepped into the torchlight (since when were there _torches_ here?) and I was immediately reminded of the lady from my dream last night. They both had an ethereal glow about them, but the similarities began and ended there. Unlike last night's transformed Ms. Miller, this lady had pale skin, skin so white it looked as though someone had leeched the life right out of it. Her hair was green, but not a forest green like one of my favorite tops, more like the green swamp monsters were made of and it was interwoven with dozens of what looked like either pearls or – and I was _really_ hoping it was the first option – human teeth. Ms. Miller had been wearing some kind of white dress and gold jewelry, but this lady had on a black, scaly battle suit. With two double-bladed axes strapped to her waist, this lady looked ready for war.

A laugh rippled out of Lizard Lady's throat, cold and mocking, but just like the woman from my dream last night, her lips didn't move when she laughed, or when she calmed down and said to us, "With all the minor gods and goddesses in the realm to choose from, all the demons even. And she chose you. Pathetic." She laughed again and waved an arm. Roots immediately sprouted up from the ground, wrapping Eddie in place. I tried not to let fear overwhelm me as Lizard Lady walked over and smiled at me, revealing pointed teeth, made of gold. "Such a pretty face," she murmured, cradling my chin in her hands. "Too bad you'll have to die." Her smile widened into a menacing grin that literally stretched from ear-to-ear and her laugh again filled the cavern as she stroked my cheek with her thumb.

"Get away from her!" Eddie snapped.

Lizard Lady turned to him, eyebrows raised, a small smile on her face. "Peace Osiris. Your child's death doesn't have to be painful, provided she gives me the book without too much delay. So," she turned back to me expectantly snapping her fingers. "Where is it?"

"I'm not his child," I snapped instead.

Lizard Lady's smile transformed into a sneer, cold and hard and she grabbed me by the hair, yanking my head back and I gasped in pain as I felt few curls part from my scalp. "Do not attempt to play me for a fool Horus. I saw you there with Her Majesty the other night, I saw her give you the Book of the Dead!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I managed.

Lizard Lady rolled her eyes, releasing my scalp but whatever relief I felt immediately faded as I felt the mud crawl up to my neck. "Eddie," I choked out, terror surging through me. I was going to die. The earth was going to swallow me up as my Osirian, my _protector_ watched on, the roots trapping him, making him unable to help me. I didn't want to die. That single thought funded through me, over and over again as I locked eyes with Eddie, reaching my hand out for him even as the mud crawled down my shoulders and over my arms. "Please don't let me die," I sobbed, feeling tears leak down my eyes as the mud began to slide up my chin.

I saw the pain and helplessness in his eyes, I saw him open his mouth but all I heard was the woman's high, cold laughter as the mud covered my ears, stooped up my nose, blanketed my eyes and swallowed up my head. I wanted to breathe, I needed to breathe and I struggled to find some way to take oxygen into my system that wouldn't involve inhaling a mouthful of mud. My lungs burned as tears slowly continued their monotonous trek out of my closed eyelids and eventually I couldn't take it anymore and opened my mouth to breathe but I couldn't breathe and instead dirt poured into my mouth and fell down my throat, choking me, strangling me, making my entire body spasm with coughs I couldn't get out –

"Nina wake up it's almost midnight!"

A scream tore itself out of my lips and I bolted upright, throwing myself away from the voice, from the laughter, from the _dirt_.

A hand firmly clapped itself over my mouth and someone hissed 'Shh!' before my mind went on backtrack. I'd been thrashing. I could move. Someone's hand was over my mouth which meant dirt wasn't covering my mouth and I could hear a person trying to quiet me which went my ears weren't covered. Carefully prying my eyelids open, I saw a familiar blonde head glaring at me. "Are you trying to get us caught Nina?" Amber demanded. "Try to keep it down or Victor will hear, now let's go!"

I nodded slowly, adrenaline beginning to trickle out of my system as I squeezed my blankets to make sure that I really was in bed and not being buried alive. "Right, you head up to the attic, I'll be there in a minute," I said once she took her hand off of my mouth.

Amber seemed to realize I was a bit shaken up because concern painted itself over her face. "Nina are you all right? Did you have a bad dream?"

I nodded, but flashed her my best attempt at a confident smile. "It was no big deal Amber, just…" I cast about for something to say before shaking my head. "It was no big deal."

Not looking entirely convinced, Amber turned and quietly slipped out the door after whispering to me that it was five minutes to midnight and the Sibuna reunion couldn't start without its leader so I better not be late. Slowly breathing in fresh, non-dirt air I felt almost giddy knowing that I was here, safe and sound in Anubis and not busy being buried alive. Running my fingers through my hair, I pushed back the covers, swung my legs over the side of the bed and froze. I couldn't blink, I couldn't think, I couldn't move and could barely breathe, what I was seeing blocking all links between my brain and my muscles.

Caking my legs and the thin cotton of my pajama pants, in a layer so heavy I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it first, was thick, dried, mud.


	4. Chapter 4: Joy

**Joy**

There were only three things I disliked about having Mara Jaffray as my second roommate. Number one is her alarm always goes off at five thirty in the morning so that she can revise all of her notes from yesterday before getting ready for school, no matter how many times Patricia and I ask her not to. Earplugs don't work either – believe me, we tried. Number two is that she's not in Sibuna and wasn't coming to our midnight reunion. Translate that to instead of just switching on the lights and only worrying about trying not to wake up Victor, Patricia and I were forced to stumble around in the dark, tripping over Mara's suitcase and stubbing my toes against the dresser as we tried to make it to the door. Number three is that the school makes it a priority to keep housemates together for their classes, which means Mara almost always knows when Patricia and I have a test coming up. Whenever we're goofing off instead of studying she just fixes us with this, 'you know better look', that somehow always gets us in line.

We finally made it out into the hall and I exhaled in relief, massaging my throbbing toe through my fuzzy pink socks. Patricia tugged on my sleeve to get my attention and I turned to see Amber tiptoeing down the hall to join us.

"Where's Nina?" Patricia whispered as she clicked on her flashlight.

"She just woke up, she'll be up in a minute," Amber whispered. Please note, when I say _whispered_ , I mean it in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Taking extreme pains to avoid creaky floorboards, the three of us snuck up to the attic to find Alfie, Fabian and a tired-looking Eddie waiting for us.

"Hey boo!" Amber whisper-called happily, doing a weird little happy-tiptoe-jumping thing over to Alfie. Patricia gravitated over towards Eddie and I mentally weighed my options. Choice A: ignore how awkward it was going to be since Fabian knows I have a crush on him and go over and talk with him since he's one of my best friends even though he and Nina are back together. Choice B: uncomfortably stand off to the side and be jealous that everyone but me has a boyfriend/girlfriend.

'A' it is.

"Hey Fabes," I greeted with a nervous smile. His gaze shifted to me and my heart fluttered. Why, why, _why_ did he have to look so cute in pajamas and an old bathrobe?

"Hey Joy," he smiled, turning towards me. "I heard your parents took you on a cruise to the Caribbean, how was it?"

My smile shifted from nervous to downright luminescent as it threatened to take over my face. "Oh It was _amazing_ Fabes, I mean honestly I didn't even know water could be that blue!"

He shrugged and explained, "Well the water itself isn't actually blue, it's just the reflection of the sky and the Caribbean waters appear that way because the sunlight is scattered by the water molecules and it reflects off of the sand and reefs near the surface–"

I cut him off with a wave of my hand. "Save the science, we both know it bores me."

Fabian laughed and a bubble of happiness swelled in my lungs. It's just so _easy_ with him. We talked about our classes this year, and I could sing when I learned we had all the same ones. We swapped stories of our vacation, the words simply flowing from my mouth. He made sure my dad was still doing OK and I assured him that his program was running smoothly. My mum found him a rehabilitation center after the events of two years ago came to light. Turns out she didn't look kindly upon men kidnapping their daughters and had been _this_ close to winning a divorce. However, the divorce lawyer convinced the court my dad suffered from a mental illness and dad got off the hook with twenty four-seven therapy. He just got out of full-time care two months ago.

I was perhaps a step closer to him than what was entirely appropriate since he had a girlfriend when Amber started clapping and we turned to see Nina stepping into the attic. She laughed and did a little mock bow, before straightening up and looking around. Her gaze landed on Fabian and she smiled before noticing how close I was to him and her eyes narrowed. I received the message loud and clear. Step away.

But I locked my jaw and stood more firmly in my spot, daring her to move me. Two can play at this game.

Tension seemed to crackle in the room as an oh-so-awkward silence filled it, before Alfie finally broke the atmosphere. "Come on everyone, circle up my feet are cold!"

I didn't need to glance down to know he wasn't wearing shoes. Nina's piercing green eyes bored into mine and as the other four Sibuna members formed a circle on the floor Nina marched over and sat down so she was on the left of Fabian. Since I was now the only one left standing I figured I had about four seconds to choose a spot before it got awkward. Well, awkward-er. Choice A: take the spot across from Fabian and Nina that Patricia saved for me and keep the situation from turning nuclear, or Choice B: sit down where I am and be next to Fabian because I don't care what Nina says and I'm not giving him up that easily.

Before I could make up my mind however, Patricia called my name and patted the spot next to her. "Come sit next to me," she insisted, and I read between the lines. It's not worth it.

It made me feel like someone was wrapping a hot wire around my lungs but I forced my feet across the floor and took the seat next to my friend.

As I relaxed into my position I saw the defensiveness trickle out of Nina's posture and she unhooked her arm from Fabian's to raise her right hand to cover her eye. "Sibuna everyone, welcome back!" she smiled, and as the rest of us performed our ritual she drops her hand to link it with Fabian's. A pounding filled my ears as a surge of white-hot jealousy clawed its way up my throat but I swallowed it down, forcing my expression to remain neutral.

The sound of my blood rushing through my ears took several unbearably lengthy minutes to quiet down, and by the time I was able to return my focus to the conversation Amber has begun talking. "I want to establish some goals for this year," she declared. "Here I've made a list." The blonde reached into her bright pink bathrobe pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of bubblegum pink stationary. She opened the paper, cleared her throat and read her list. "One. We should figure out more about Nina and Eddie's, Chosen One Osirian relationship. Two. Be on the lookout for anything creepy or supernatural that Victor might be up to. And three. We need two codes: a code word, and a code phrase."

The rest of us looked at each other in confusion as Amber put the paper back in her pocket. "Um, codes for what exactly?" Patricia asked.

Amber rolled her eyes. "For Sibuna emergencies, duh," she explained, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "What happens if someone gets kidnapped again, like how you were grabbed by Rufus or Joy was taken out of school two years ago? The word we can text to each other. The phrase we can say in conversation or on the phone or something. Both mean the same thing: drop what you're doing, get Sibuna and help me my life is in danger."

"Amber do you really think that's necessary?" Fabian asked.

The blonde gave him such a withering look you would've thought he'd just suggested she run downstairs nude screaming, 'Victor I love you.' "Yes Fabian, I think it's necessary," she snapped in a tone that left no room for argument and the group collectively drew back a bit. Amber can be scary when she wants to.

We dissolved into a heated debate of what the word should be, everyone having multiple suggestions before eventually settling into the two final contenders. Nina, Fabian, Amber and I were backing 'pepper', while Patricia, Alfie and Eddie were holding firm at 'shazam'.

"Four to three is majority," I argued. "The code word should be pepper."

Patricia folded her arms and scowled. "But it's something we're all going to be potentially using so it should be a unanimous decision."

"Not to mention it was _my_ idea to have a code word in the first place. I should have final say on what it is," Amber piped up.

"Well it's a word none of us are probably ever going to use so the fact that it was your idea doesn't hold much weight," Eddie shot back.

Nina gave a low whistle to get everyone's attention and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Show off.

"How about we just flip a coin?" she suggested. "Anyone have one?"

Thankfully Alfie apparently had started carrying around fifty pence pieces in his bathrobe pocket in case he ever spent the night at school and had a vending machine emergency. With a flourish, he pulled one out and we passed it around the circle to Nina.

"OK, heads," she showed the heads sighed around to everyone, "Is pepper. Tails," she again displayed the side to the group before continuing, "Is shazam. Everyone in agreement?"

A somewhat in sync nodding of heads followed, everyone's eyes laser-focused on the coin in Nina's hands.

Balancing it on her thumb, Nina flipped, caught, and slapped it onto the top of her hand. She blew out a breath and cautiously peeked at it, face splitting into a grin as she removed her hand and slid the coin off. "Heads," she declared victoriously.

Patricia and Eddie groaned and Alfie half-heartedly tried to keep arguing but the code word had been confirmed, settled in the fairest way possible and there was nothing he could do.

"Now that that's out of the way, I vote we use a different method of picking the code phrase," Nina announced and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from sneering. Of course she wanted to just come crashing in and change everything. That was her way after all. But _of course_ , everyone turned to her expectantly.

"What'd you have in mind Neens?" Amber cocked her head.

Before answering, Nina walked over and grabbed a notepad off of a shelf. "Can I borrow your pen?" she asked Amber, holding out her hand expectantly.

Amber gave a dramatic sigh, but pulled out the pen that was keeping her long hair in a cute little bun. Nina then tore seven strips of paper and passed them around the circle. "We each write down our favorite code phrase, we go around the circle and read them out, and then I'll pull a random one out of my bathrobe pocket. If anyone wants to take theirs out in favor of a better one, or change theirs, they can do that before I pull one out. Sound good to everyone?"

No one seemed to have any objections but I just couldn't help myself. "Why do _you_ get to choose the code phrase?" I raised an eyebrow and innocently tilted my head, doing my best to keep my expression nonchalant.

Nina pulled her lips back into a tight smile as her laser-like eyes turned their gaze to me. "It doesn't have to be me Joy. But since it was, _my_ , idea, I just assumed I would. And look at that, _you're_ the only one who seems to have a problem with it being me."

"I'm just saying we should get to choose who it is. We're a group democracy after all, not a dictatorship," I smiled, keeping my face as sweet as possible. "Why can't Fabes do it?"

Nina's gaze cut through the air to land on Fabian and I was surprised her eyes didn't slice him in two. "Do you want to do it Fabian?"

Sensing danger, he immediately shook his head, adorably stammering out that he was perfectly fine with Nina doing it. Her eyes flashed back to me. "Any other complaints Joy?"

I wanted desperately to come up with some biting response, but my mind went blank. I swallowed my pride and stiffly shook my head, smile still frozen on my face. The group released a collective breath, and we passed the paper around the circle. Nina uncapped the pen, scrawled her idea, and passed it on. Fabian wrote down his idea, passed it on, and so on and so forth. Once Eddie finished and handed the pen back to Nina, she capped it, cleared her throat, and read out her idea. "I've been studying a lot of anatomy recently."

I fought the urge to scoff, and turned my attention to Fabian who read out, "I'm doing my biography on Alan Turing."

Amber raised a hand. "Who?"

"He was an English mathematician and lead the team who cracked the Nazis' Enigma codes during World War II," Fabian explained, and I had to look away when Nina laughed and planted an affectionate kiss on his cheek.

Amber abstained, but Alfie was pulling for "Elvis has left the building," I had come up with "What goes around comes around," Patricia submitted, "My twin brother and I were thinking," and Eddie decided on, "An eye for an eye."

Nina gathered up all the scraps and shuffled them in her pocket. She reached a hand in and pulled out a folded little piece of paper. Opening it up, Nina scanned it, a scowl rising to her lips before she reluctantly read out, "What goes around. Comes around."

A smug smile pulled itself across my lips and I desperately fought to keep my glee from being to obvious, though I was pretty sure I failed miserably.

Clapping her hands to draw our attention, Amber tossed her hair and flashed a million watt smile. "OK everyone I think that's enough work for one night, we do have first day of classes tomorrow after all, and we want to be in bed before Victor catches us. Anyone else have anything they need to bring up?" We all either shook our heads or somehow agreed we had nothing to add and Amber nodded happily. "Alright then, I will leave it to our fearless leader to send us off. Nina?"

Nina gave a small laugh and covered her right eye. "Sibuna."

We mimicked her, the low whisper of, "Sibuna," echoing through the attic. Unable to help myself I asked, "Why didn't you send us off Amber?"

The blonde stared at me in confusion. "Nina's our leader. And our leader starts and ends all official Sibuna meetings."

"Who made Nina our leader?" Since my bathrobe sleeves only came to just past my elbows I moved my hand behind my back so no one could see me clenching my fist.

"Well, I am the Chosen One Joy." I turned to see Nina's eyes narrowed dangerously as she practically dared me to challenge her position.

I forced my fist to relax and pretended to raise my hands in surrender. "Hold your fire, _Chosen One_ ," I rolled my eyes. "All I'm saying is I wasn't part of any election."

"Maybe because there was no election," Nina snapped, folding her arms as she glared at me.

The rest of the group had shifted to form a sort of half-circle around Nina and I felt my throat close up. They had her back. They _always_ had her back. Why couldn't they have my back? Fabes owed me didn't he? I saved his life last year! I wanted to come up with some biting comeback but the sight of them all standing there, united, made me feel sick. My throat was dry and my mind went blank. I couldn't think of anything to say so I just numbly shrugged my shoulders. "My bad, I guess," I mumbled, not really looking at any of them.

Nina's posture oh-so-slightly relaxed as I backed down. "Alright then. Good night everyone. And guys, be careful sneaking back downstairs, make sure Victor doesn't see you and Alfie please, please, _please_ try not to wake up Jerome."

Fabian and Eddie made noises of affirmation before Patricia pulled Eddie over to say good night as Alfie complained he wasn't _that_ noisy, but Nina didn't seem to hear him. She glanced at me, saw I was still looking, and then turned to Fabian. "Sweet dreams," she smiled, batting her eyelashes up at him. Without even giving him a chance to respond she placed a hand at the back of his neck and pulled his lips down to hers. I wanted to look away, but my eyes seemed to be frozen into my skull as it felt like fire was being poured on them. Fabian seemed all too happy to kiss her back, if not a bit surprised at the suddenness of it, and put his hands on her waist to pull her in until she broke away a couple seconds later. Flashing him a smile, she turned on her heel and walked to the door, giving everyone a wave as she walked out, leading to a quiet chorus of, "Bye Nina."

I swallowed past the lump in my throat, waited four seconds to give her a head start, and then took off down the stairs, socked feet skirting the floor as quickly as I could manage without falling over until I reached my room. Taking a deep breath, I pressed my head against the cool, wooden doorframe, soaking it in before twisting the handle and darting inside. Navigating my way through the pitch black past a gently snoring Mara I dropped my robe on the floor and collapsed into bed, my eyes still burning with the image of Nina pressing her lips to Fabes'. I knew, I just _knew_ she did that to prove a point to me. The way she looked at me, right before she did that, Nina wanted me to see. She wanted me to see and know that he was hers, not mine. But that would change. It _had_ to. That feeling I got in my chest every time I saw him, the way he made my heart speed up, my palms tingle. It couldn't just mean nothing.

I flipped onto my stomach and shoved my face into my pillow, trying to erase the kiss from the inside of my eyelids. To have something else to do I replayed the moments, or more specifically the fight, leading up to it. If it hadn't happened, or if I had _won_ , would things have gone differently? Would Nina have resisted from flaunting their relationship in my face like that? Speaking of, why didn't I win? I'd had little to no problem winning the majority of our conversations/arguments last year. What had changed?

I ran over almost all of our confrontations from last year for what felt like an eternity, ignoring when Patricia entered the room and stumbled into bed as I analyzed and re-analyzed and re-analyzed our conversations until I realized last year I'd been able to count on someone – namely, Patricia – backing me up. And she, along with the rest of Sibuna, had been completely silent. They seemed to have resigned themselves to letting Nina and I fight our own battles, and no matter how small the issue may've seemed, that was what everything always was between us: a battle. A battle for a bedroom, a battle for a spot on a team to clean up a dusty old library, a battle for a boy's heart. A battle for who would pull a code phrase out of their bathrobe pocket.

If I were a different girl in a different life, I might think that it was ridiculous how any conflict between us always managed to get blown completely out of proportion. But these were _my_ friends and this was _my_ life and Fabes was _my_ crush and I was _not_ OK with Nina messing with all of it. I had tried to resolve these issues last year, I really had, but it takes time and patience away from a problem to mend your issue with it, and since Nina dating the boy I'd liked for _three years_ was the problem, I wasn't likely to get space any time soon, especially considering I lived with both of them. I hadn't fixed my problems and now here they were, writhing and spitting like a nest of snakes ready to kill, and I knew on some level I had to fix this before all my friends left me in the dust again for Nina, just like they always did, like they always would.

 _Don't back down_ , I decided. _Only pick fights you can make seem reasonable, and once a fight has been picked, don't back down_.


	5. Explanation

Hey everyone

So I thought y'all deserved an explanation for my extended period of absence. Which I am *really* sorry about by the way. So I said in a previous update I just removed that I was having headaches, and it hurt to stare at a computer screen. Well turns out something was causing swelling in my brain, so after getting an MRI to make sure it wasn't a tumor we saw a neurologist and turns out the source of the swelling was a medication I was on. It can apparently cause - say it with me now - "intracranial swelling" in very rare cases, and apparently I am a very rare case. I've never been so unhappy to be one in a million. Ultimately the problem was an excess of spinal fluid the meds created, so I got a spinal tap which took care of the headaches, and my double vision is finally almost back to normal so updates will go back to every 6-8 days. Thank you so much for being patient on me, I swear I don't normally get surgeries so hopefully my going MIA for this long will hopefully be a one time thing.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, all that good stuff.


	6. Chapter 5: Patricia

**Patricia**

Ask me or anyone who knows me any time, any day or any point in the year and they will say with complete confidence that I am _not_ a morning person. My motto is that if the alarm clock only has three figures, it's too early to be awake. If it weren't for Trudy's cooking, I'd have set the record for most detentions earned due to tardiness.

So when Mara woke me up at six-thirty in the morning with the news that Anubis house was doing a first day of school group photo, I wanted to smother her with the pillow she'd yanked out from under me.

"It's too early for group photos," I complained instead, burrowing down under the covers.

I could almost hear Mara roll her eyes. "Patricia, we agreed on this last night. We're seniors remember? This is our last year together before moving on to the A levels."

"I don't remember discussing that," I grumbled into my mattress, wishing I had my pillow back.

"That's because the rest of us decided it while you and Eddie were off doing who-knows-what before bedtime," Mara replied, and I felt my cheeks burn but didn't comment, because while _I_ knew perfectly well that we had spent the time making out in the laundry room, Mara most certainly did _not_ need to know that. "Will you please help me wake up Joy?"

I pressed my hands into my cheeks for a few seconds in an attempt to cool my blush and swung my legs over the bed. It took all the upper body strength I possessed, but I managed to push myself up into some version of a sitting position to see Mara tickling Joy's feet.

"That's not going to work," I informed her. "Joy sleeps like a rock on most days lately."

"What about the other days?"

I shrugged. "I'd bet my lifesavings she could snooze through a hurricane."

Mara sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Patricia are you going to help me or not?"

I forced myself to my feet and waved a hand dismissively. "Relax Mara, there's a trick to it." Walking over, I grabbed Joy's comforter with both hands and yanked it off of her.

The effect was instantaneous. Joy practically exploded out of bed as though she'd just been shot from a cannon and was halfway into her uniform before she realized no emergency was taking place. Confusion settled onto her face as she looked around in bewilderment. "What's going on?"

"First day of classes Joy, we're taking a group photo," I explained as Mara and I headed over to join her in the closet.

Joy remembered the photo but was confused as to how she'd woken up until she saw her comforter on the floor, at which point she realized what happened and we playfully bickered about it for the rest of the morning.

"Fine," I threw up my hands in mock surrender as we walked into the dining room where the boys were already waiting. "Next time I won't wake you up, I'll just let you sleep right up until either your alarm clock or Victor wakes you up."

Joy shuddered. "Well when you put it that way I actually prefer cruel and unusual punishment."

"Cruel and unusual punishment? Joy don't you think that's a bit dramatic?" Mara asked innocently.

Joy stuck out her tongue. "If anything I'm underplaying it."

"I do love a good conflict," Jerome smiled, looking extremely satisfied. "Tell me Joy, what's this one about?"

Unwilling to give him anything to tease us about, my roommates and I chorused, "Nothing," and took our seats at the table. I inhaled deeply, loving the smell of Trudy's breakfast.

While we waited for the other girls to come down, Mara and Fabian grilled Eddie about the new teachers and Jerome, Alfie and Joy and I tried to stay awake. By the time Nina and Amber finally came down we'd resorted to pinching each other to stay conscious.

"Finally!" Jerome moaned as they trudged into the room. Actually Amber flounced, seeming preppy as ever; but Nina trudged and looked exhausted. "Get enough beauty sleep Millington?"

Rather than answer, Amber flipped her hair and gracefully perched herself next to Alfie. I watched suspiciously as Nina just about collapsed into her chair before dropping her head to rest on her arms that she had folded on the tabletop.

"You alright Nina?" Eddie asked. She lifted her head, blinked once, and managed an exhausted sounding noise before dropping her head back down with a thump. I raised my eyebrows in amusement before grabbing another slice of toast from the center of the table.

"Very articulate," Joy noted.

Nina didn't even bother to respond, her head refusing to move from its place on the table.

"Oh sweetie you look exhausted!" Trudy fussed as she marched back into the dining room. Gently raising Nina's head she pressed her hand to her forehead in concern. "When on earth did you get to bed last night?" Nina mumbled something unintelligible and managed some sort of shrug and Trudy sighed. "Come now dearie you're asleep in your seat. Maybe you should stay home from school today."

The words were barely out of her mouth when Nina shot to her feet like cannon. "No!"

I snorted as Trudy just about jumped in surprise at Nina's enthusiastic response. "No, Trudy, I'm fine. Just not feeling like much of a morning person at the moment that's all. But I'm completely fine I promise! I can go to school no problem!"

Trudy blinked in confusion. "All right, hon, if you say so. You certainly are a fair bit more lively than you first appeared. If you say you can go to school, you can go to school." Nina breathed out a sigh in relief and slumped back into her chair as Trudy left the room again.

"You know Nina," smirked Jerome as he leaned back into his chair with a rather content look on his face. "I do believe that's a first in this house. Someone practically begging on their knees to go to school, rather than faking an illness to get out of it."

"What about that time I got back from the hospital?" Alfie protested, but Jerome shushed him. Nina rolled her eyes and made a face before propping her chin up with her hand.

The group picture took about seventeen tries to get right but we were having too much fun to complain by the end. We eventually settled on a pose that I personally was very proud of when Trudy showed us the small screen of the digital camera. From left to right, Eddie was holding me by the waist as I rested my elbow on his shoulder and Joy was leaning against my back, hand on her waist and hip popped. Amber was on her tiptoes, blowing a kiss to the camera and simultaneously giving Alfie a side hug while Alfie ducked away from Jerome who was trying to give him a noogie. Mara was on Jerome's right, laughing as she wrapped a hand around his wrist to protect Alfie and Nina and Fabian were opposite Eddie and me, and both were blushing like mad because Amber had convinced Fabian to have Nina climb onto him piggy-back style.

But of course someone just had to point out that we'd spent so much time on the picture we were going to be late if we didn't run. While I personally couldn't care less if I was tardy or not – and Amber was in favor of being fashionably late – Mara turned an unnatural shade of white upon hearing the news and so we all hauled tail to get to the school building as fast as we could to prevent her from having an full-scale meltdown.

We managed to get to class on time, although Alfie looked ready to collapse – Amber had made him carry her so she wouldn't accidentally sweat – and Nina was still practically asleep on her feet. The nine of us slid into our desks for first period Environmental Science with Sweetie, and Eddie and I made sure to sit in the back. It was the first day of school, which meant permission forms, and classroom maps and a whole bunch of other stuff that made me want to vomit for the first half an hour. But for the last fifteen minutes we had 'quiet time' to get a head start on the worksheet that would be homework, which meant Eddie and I spent the last fifteen minutes engaged in a heated paper football contest.

Sweetie kept meandering around the classroom under the pretense of 'interacting with the students', but no one was fooled. He made trips to where Eddie and I were goofing off roughly every twenty seconds, so we all knew he just wanted to make sure we weren't getting too friendly back there. What was funny about it though, was that he really should have been worrying about Mara and Jerome if anything. At least some part of them was toughing each other throughout the entire class and Jerome spent all of 'quiet time' with his hand on her leg.

"Think he'll notice?" I muttered to Eddie as I lined up the little paper American football for my shot.

Eddie snuck a glance at his dad who was still eyeing us like a hawk, completely oblivious to how Jerome was twirling a strand of Mara's hair with his finger and snickered. "As long as we're purposefully sitting out of his direct line of sight? Not likely."

I released and the tiny hard triangle flew through the goalpost known as Eddie's fingers. "Touchdown!" I grinned, sticking my tongue out. Eddie rolled his eyes and so I smacked him and told him not to be a sore loser as the bell rang.

I mostly dozed through the rest of my classes, knowing I could always 'borrow' Mara's notes if we had a quiz coming up. I did make some marginal sort of effort to stay awake though. Amber had drilled it into my head that if I was going to date the headmaster's son then I had to at least try to do well in school; so for second period Calculus, third period Literature, fourth period government, fifth period drama and sixth period history I actually managed to get through the teacher's introductions before I completely lost interest.

But by some sort of unholy miracle or something, seventh period French, the one class Eddie and I sat in the front row, actually wasn't all that terrible at first. All the girls – yes even the ones with boyfriends – all whispered excitedly when the teacher showed up to class a few seconds before the bell rang.

"Bonjour classe," he announced, and we robotically replied, "Bonjour monsieur," as he put his bag down and picked up a piece of chalk. "My name is Monsieur Duval," he introduced himself, writing the name on the board, "And I will be your advanced French teacher this term." The girls all tittered excitedly and I rolled my eyes, already preparing to use Eddie's shoulder as a pillow.

He exceeded my expectations however, instructing us to find a group and play 'Never Have I Ever' in French. I grabbed Eddie's elbow and immediately turned to snatch up Joy before anyone else could, and we settled in to our table until Mr. Duval called 'time' and we resumed our original seats.

Things seemed to take a turn for the worse after that though, Mr. Duval lectured us on how he expected our full attention and cooperation at all times in the class, how he would be a tough grader and yadda yadda yadda. I was halfway through a yawn when trouble struck.

It took me ten seconds to realize Mr. Duval had stopped talking, and another five seconds to look up and see that he was scowling at someone to my right. It was another two seconds before I realized it was Nina.

Her hand was propping up her head and her eyes were closed and I could tell even from two seats over that she had fallen dead asleep.

"Would someone care to wake Miss Martin?" I held my breath as Fabian pulled Nina's hand out from under her and her eyes snapped open, palms slamming into the table as her head jerked up. "Yeah, hi, what, hi, um, I'm awake, I mean…" I closed my eyes, willing Nina to stop spouting out the first thing that popped into her head.

"So kind of you to join us Miss Martin. I trust you're well-rested by now?" Mr. Duval raised an eyebrow and I thought Nina's cheeks might spontaneously combust they were so red as she shrunk into her seat, looking like she wished it would swallow her up. "Well since Miss Martin here obviously thinks she knows the material well enough to sleep through, what say we don't let her tell you about the class's next activity?"

The classroom was silent but one glance at Joy and I could see her smug smile. Nina slowly stood up and walked over to where Mr. Duval was tapping his foot, nervously playing with the sleeves of her jacket. She opened her mouth, and then closed it, cheeks turning an even brighter shade of red as she quietly asked him what we should do.

Mr. Duval gave her a tight smile, and answered, "I thought the class's time would be best used if you instructed them, in French of course, to read the Counte de Monte Cristo chapters 1-6, making sure to answer the questions at the end of each chapter."

The class let out a collective groan but Nina looked relieved and I smiled, knowing Mr. Duval could not have picked a better punishment for her. She straightened her shoulders and rattled off a long string of French I only understood about every sixth word of, and when she was finished I fought the urge to cheer, settling for leading the class in a round of applause instead.

Nina sat back down and I turned just in time to see Mr. Duval wipe a rather ugly look off his face and replace it with a smile. "Alright everyone, you know the assignment. Chapters 1-6, get started."

Everyone groaned again but reluctantly got out our books. I let my mind wander the whole time, making sure to flip pages every so often so Mr. Duval would think I was being productive. Eddie nudged my shoulder with about five minutes to go and motioned to Mr. Duval, who was reading at his desk. He scribbled something on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk to me. I carefully snuck it into my book before looking down to see he'd written, 'SPITBALLS?' in his usual messy scrawl.

I flipped it over, wrote my answer and shoved it back, smirking when he raised his eyebrows as he read my reply. 'We don't have any straws doofus. And your handwriting's terrible.'

Eddie turned the paper over again, scribbled something and shoved it back. My appreciation for him rose another four levels when I read, 'STRAWS IN MY BACKPACK. FOR EMERGENCIES.' I looked over at him and raised my eyebrows in a challenge before writing a suggestion on the other side, 'Ten points if you hit the book, twenty if you hit his nose?' and passing the note back.

Eddie grinned when he read my answer and gave me a thumbs up, before quietly sliding me a blue straw out of his backpack and tearing off a piece of paper from the sheet we'd been passing back and forth.

He handed me the paper and I stuck it in my mouth, gesturing to him that we would go at the same time. Eddie nodded, excitedly sucking on the paper before we put the straws in our mouths, carefully lined up the shot, and fired.

I hid the straw under my desk and waited just long enough to see my artwork smack into Mr. Duval's eye as Eddie's thwacked him on the nose before ducking my head down as though I'd been reading.

I had to literally bite my tongue to keep from exploding with laughter when Mr. Duval positively _yelped_ , and jumped up, swiping at his eye as the class looked at him in confusion. He finally managed to dig the spitball out of his eye and looked around angrily, one hand on his hip and the other tightly squeezing the soggy ammunition. The class was dead quiet but I could see Alfie and Jerome trying not to laugh.

"Who is responsible for this?" Mr. Duval demanded, his voice short and clipped.

Eddie and I grinned at each other but stayed silent, making sure to keep our best attempt at a confused look on our faces.

"Well? Speak up." Mr. Duval paced in front of the class, waiting for an answer that didn't seem forthcoming. His eyes roamed the classroom before landing on a head of curly hair and a tight smile rose to his lips. "Miss Martin?" Nina blinked and pointed to herself, as though there were another Miss Martin he might be talking to. "Was it you?"

Nina shook her head wordlessly, opening her mouth to deny the accusation but Mr. Duval didn't give her the chance. "Well if it wasn't you then who was it? No one else in class has caused any trouble."

I rolled my eyes at the unfair tactic. Of course no one else had caused trouble yet, it was the first class of the year for crying out loud. I watched Nina carefully, guilt starting to creep its way into my chest but I snared it down. I'd confess if she actually got in trouble for it, but right now he was just giving her a hard time.

"I'd like you to think very carefully about your next answer Miss Martin." Mr. Duval walked towards her, taking his time and I could see Nina's grip on her book become white-knuckled. "Was it you?"

Mr. Duval's interrogation was interrupted by the sound of a chair falling to the ground. "It was me, I did it." I didn't fully comprehend what had happened, and had to pinch myself to make sure I'd seen what just happened correctly. But even with my fingernails digging into my arm, I still saw Eddie standing defiantly, his chair on the ground, and I knew I wasn't imagining it. Mr. Duval had zero proof Nina had done it, and I'd bet half the things I own she doesn't even know how to fire a spitball. Why would Eddie have confessed to help Nina just on the off chance that one of six of her teachers _might_ hold a grudge against her in a class she couldn't possibly fail?

I felt a surge of something hot and angry rise up in my chest, filling my lungs with jealousy and I scowled at my book as Mr. Duval walked over. Before he could even open his mouth however, I stood – much less dramatically than Eddie had – and folded my arms. "I did it too."

Mr. Duval gave us a boring lecture on respecting the faculty and blah, blah, blah before sending us both to Sweetie's office where we received not one, but _two_ weekend detentions. I was tempted to complain, but since he was my boyfriend's dad I bit my tongue and settled for dramatically scoffing, which Eddie called me on as soon as we were able to head to our neighboring lockers.

"He could've at least given us regular detention," I groused. "Did he really have to make it on the weekend?"

Eddie shrugged, spinning the combination and pulling his door open. "Well if you ask me – "

" – which I didn't," I quipped, grabbing my notebook.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Eddie winked. "Like I was saying, if you ask me I think he did us a favor."

I couldn't help it. I laughed out loud. Slamming my locker with a 'bang' I leaned against it, arms crossed. "Oh really? How is him taking away our already limited free time possibly doing us any kind of favor?"

Eddie mimicked me, shutting his locker and leaning against it with a teasing grin on his face. "Well, detention's meant to give us an hour for homework, so the faculty only check in on us at the beginning and end. Think about it Yacker: You. Me. All alone, with no adult supervision for a full sixty minutes?" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and I shoved him, stalking towards the doors so he wouldn't see me blushing like mad. Eddie laughed and jogged to catch up with me, throwing an arm around my shoulders as we walked out of the building and towards the dormitories. "You know you love me," he smirked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, about as much as I love poison oak," I quipped.

Eddie gave a dramatic gasp, and stared at me like I'd just dropped out of the sky. "Why Yacker! I had no idea you were so fond of rashes!" I responded with an elbow to the stomach and he fake-gagged, making me laugh. "You know, one of these days you're actually going to hurt me and I'll land in the hospital, rack up a fortune in bills and then die and then you'll feel really bad and wish you'd been less violent."

I shrugged, fighting to keep the smile off my face. "There's no way you're dying before I do, you'll live longer just so you can make sure it says 'Yacker' on my tombstone."

Eddie chuckled and I ignored how when his laugh went all raspy like that it made my stomach flutter. "I'm not going to lie, that is an extremely tempting idea." He held out his hands in front of him as though envisioning exactly what it would look like. "Here lies Yacker. She who could never keep her mouth shut."

"Glad you're so anxious to see me dead," I crossed my arms and turned my face in the opposite direction, letting him think he'd just messed up big time.

"Wait, no, that is not what I meant." Eddie got two steps ahead and started walking backwards so he could face me while talking. "I am not anxious to see you dead, in fact I really, really don't want you to be dead, that was a joke and I thought you knew it was a joke and I feel like you can't be holding this one against me but if you are I'm sure you have a legitimate reason."

I stopped walking and placed my hands on my hips, raising an eyebrow as Eddie intently searched my face for any sign of forgiveness. I gave him his answer by hooking two fingers into his collar, pulling him in and kissing him squarely on the lips.

I have faced down pendulums of doom, evil ravens, Victor the twisted headmaster and a whole manner of trials, but one of the scariest moments of my life was when I told Eddie I'd never kissed anyone else. It wasn't something I'd ever intended to tell him, but I'd avoided kissing him for a while when we finally became official because I was worried I wouldn't be as good at it as he was and he'd eventually cornered me and demanded to know why. When I finally caved and told him I didn't have a whole lot of kissing experience, he'd had the nerve to laugh – _laugh_ – and I'd threatened to beat him black and blue before he got his breath back enough to tell me that if that was the case then he couldn't wait to help me practice.

And all that practice paid off quite well if I do say so myself. Back when we first started dating, when Eddie cupped my face I would've simply broken off the kiss, having no idea what to do. When he leaned into it I would've pushed him off and walked away, and when the hand not cupping my face cradled my wrist I would've snatched my hand to my chest and called him a moron. Now, I let his knuckles trail across my cheek and thought I might explode with pleasure. When he leaned into the kiss I leaned back, drowning in the feeling of his soft lips on mine. And when his other hand gently brushed against my wrist, fingers fiddling with my bracelets, I linked his hand with mine, feeling my skin catch on fire everywhere he touched me. His knuckles moved across my cheek to let his hand tangle in my hair and when his fingers curled into a fist, giving my hair a gentle tug I involuntarily made a small noise of pleasure in the back of my throat and Eddie broke away grinning. "What was that?"

I ignored the twenty shades of red my cheeks had become as completely as I ignored his hand still in my hair. "What was what?" I asked innocently.

"That noise you made," he grinned, eyes dancing with mirth.

I rolled my eyes and shoved him, claiming he was hallucinating and resumed the walk back to Anubis house, letting him catch up on his own.

When we finally got back, Eddie was looking more smug than I'd ever seen him and the rest of Anubis was relaxing in the commons area with the exception of Nina who had fallen asleep on the couch.

"What's up with Nina today?" I asked, swinging my bag off my shoulder and unceremoniously dropping it on the floor.

Amber was the one to answer, speaking up from her spot on the armrest next to Nina's head. "I honestly have no idea. I mean, sure she was up until like half past midnight but she fell asleep before I did and I'm fine."

"Wha – " Mara's jaw practically hit the floor as she gaped at Amber's careless admission. "What in the world were you two doing up at twelve-thirty last night?"

I winced as Amber got that 'blank faced deer caught in headlights' expression she gets whenever anyone catches her in a lie, eyes darting back and forth and I stepped in to help out. "Amber insisted on giving Nina a back to school makeup tutorial," I sat down next to Joy and Eddie sat next to me as I hoped the answer would satisfy Mara, but if anything she just looked even more confused.

"But how do you know that?" Mara asked me, eyebrows drawn together as she tried to puzzle out what had happened last night.

I paused a half beat before shrugging as though it were obvious. "Amber dropped her hairspray can and it woke me up so I went to go see what the noise was."

"Speaking of noise, you two made such a racket with those spitballs Mr. Duval decided to give us an assessment tomorrow on what we learned last year, just to make sure we didn't forget everything over summer break." Seeing as that was pretty much the worst segue way ever, I had no doubt Fabian had interrupted to change the topic and I was immediately grateful for it.

I moaned and dropped my head against the couch. "It was summer vacation, of _course_ we forgot everything!" I rolled my eyes. Honestly, what teacher doesn't know this?

"Thank you Trixie!" I glanced over to see Alfie pointing at me in triumph. "You see Mara? Not everyone makes sure to review last year's notes at least once a week over break."

Mara blushed and tucked her chin to her chest, muttering weakly about good study habits.

"Mara, there is a fine line between good study habits and flat out nerdy," Joy assured her, laughing when Mara moaned and buried her face in her hands.

"The difference is that Mara's probably the only one of us who's going to pass the French test tomorrow," Jerome defended her and I shrugged, about to point out the obvious before Eddie beat me to it. "Assuming of course, you don't count Nina who's been fluent in French since she was three years old?"

Jerome waved his hand dismissively. "Doesn't count. Like you said, Nina's fluent. She'd have to actually try to fail the test."

The subject of our conversation suddenly jerked awake, clawing at her throat and sucking in gasping breaths, making everyone in the room practically jump at the sudden movement. "Neens?" Amber asked carefully, once Nina was breathing like a normal human being again. "You all right?"

Nina nodded, pressing the heel of her hand into her forehead. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"You're not possessed by an alien are you?" Alfie peaked out from behind the curtain where he'd hid, and I sincerely hoped I was not the only one at a complete loss as to how he had gotten over there so quickly.

Nina managed a laugh as she swung her legs off the couch and relaxed back into the cushion. "I thought you gave up on your whole 'aliens are coming to kill us' theory two years ago."

"That doesn't mean I can't still be suspicious," Alfie snapped, looking nervous but still coming back over when Amber called him.

Without any more distractions, we managed to get a reasonable amount of studying done before Trudy called us over for dinner, which was by Anubis standards completely normal, and considering Alfie only tried to strangle Jerome once, if anything the meal was peaceful.

Joy and I quizzed each other on last year's vocab terms afterwards, and it took me the longest time to remember the differences between 'poison', poison, and 'poisson', fish so I didn't even notice Eddie and Nina were gone until I realized it had been an hour since dinner had ended and he hadn't once teased me since.

I got up to look for them, and they weren't anywhere downstairs so I headed up to the girls' floor and heard voices coming from Nina and Amber's room.

"I still think we should tell them about, this… whatever it is that's going on with us. " Sounded like Eddie. Also sounded suspicious.

"We're not telling them." Nina. "They don't need to know, and it's simpler this way. What do you think will happen if Patricia finds out?"

I froze when I heard my name, my hand on the door. What didn't they want me to know about? There was silence and then a sigh and Eddie's voice came drifting out. "I just feel guilty keeping this to ourselves."

"Just think of it like when you didn't tell us who your dad was. You managed to keep that secret no problem," came the answer.

"Well hopefully this secret won't get broadcast to the entire school." There was a laugh, and unable to help myself any longer I opened the door and walked in to see Nina and Eddie. Hugging. And not your cute, quick little, between two friends hug, but rather an arms around each other, gripping tightly, looking very cozy with each other hug.

Eddie caught sight of me and immediately jerked away from Nina, who's eyes widened when she turned around and saw me. "Patricia!" she immediately whipped a smile out of somewhere and did her best to appear casual. "What's up?"

I ignored the blood pounding through my ears and plastered a grin onto my face. "Nothing, I was just wondering if you could help me with some… irregular verb conjugations."

Nina looked beyond relieved and quickly nodded, grabbing Eddie by the arm and yanking him downstairs while I followed, jealousy zipping through my veins. I barely heard a word of Nina's advice the entire time she was talking. In fact, I barely heard a word anyone else said the entire evening. I went through the motions of showering and brushing my hair and teeth, hoping at any second I'd wake up and find out the whole day had been a dream and I hadn't overheard any conversation. But it never happened, and as I lay in bed all of my thoughts were still being taken up with either analyzing or ignoring the exchange I'd overheard. There was no way Eddie was cheating on me, and even if some divine force determined to screw up my life convinced him to do it, there was no way it would be with Nina. Right? This kind of thing where the boyfriend falls in love with his girl's best friend who's dating the guy's friend, that kind of thing only happens in movies. Not real life.

That was what I tried to convince myself of right up until I fell asleep, and given that I still had envy coursing through me I couldn't help but feel that I'd royally failed.


	7. Chapter 6: Nina

**Nina**

∞I desperately circled my arms again and again, feeling the water slap against my face as I kicked my feet and struggled to stay above the surface. My teeth were chattering and my vision was blurred and I couldn't feel my toes, but I kept repeating the same motions over and over, knowing that I couldn't let myself fall beneath the water.

I saw a wave rushing towards me and ducked just in time to avoid getting hammered. I blinked underwater, waiting for the wave to pass, walls of blue surrounding me. I raised my hands and grabbed at the water, sucking in breaths when I broke the surface. Air stung my cheeks as I struggled to stay afloat, my head swiveling around as I searched for something, anything to hold onto.

A glint caught my eye and I desperately swam towards it, not even giving myself time to think, too scared it would vanish. I quickly drew nearer and the gleam took shape into a buoy and I almost cried with joy, heaving my tired muscles up onto the base as I reached it. I clutched at the legs of the structure with frozen fingers, leaning my head against the metal as I tried to catch my breath.

"Well now that's just too easy don't you think?" Goosebumps erupted along my back and arms as I clumsily pushed wet curls out of my face, looking up at the source of the voice. Lizard Lady calmly walked towards me across the surface of the water in all her scaly glory, a wicked smile etched upon her face. She gestured at my safe haven and continued, mouth not moving, "Seems almost… anti-climactic doesn't it?"

I wanted to open my mouth to protest, to scream but my lips seemed to have been soldered shut and I could only watch as Lizard Lady drew a battle-ax and gestured at the water's surface. A tentacle, great and slimy and green rose up in response, water and muck dripping off of it. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head and I think I whimpered as more followed until there were a total of twelve just like the first, all bobbing and weaving together in some sort of savage dance.

One snaked across the surface towards me, its little suction beakers clamping onto my legs and my mouth started working again as I screamed, kicking at the creature and trying to stay on the buoy but it was useless. One by one they wrapped around me, binding my limbs together and slowly, steadily dragging me inch by inch, foot by foot into the water. Waves lapped at my upper body and a cry of despair escaped my lips as my hands lost their grip and I was fully tugged under.

I scratched at the tentacles with my fingers, feeling their slimy skin slide right beneath my nails, impervious to any damage I could've done. My face tilted upwards towards the wavering light of the surface but suddenly I couldn't tell which way was up and where was down as the thing holding me began thrashing around. There was a sudden jerk as the tentacles holding me changed direction too quickly and I think I got whiplash but the pain didn't register, I was too busy panicking as my mouth was forced open and precious oxygen escaped in the form of bubbles.

I clamped my mouth shut again but it was too late, I could feel my lungs beginning to tighten, could see blackness creeping into the edge of my vision. I weakly continued to hit my captor but my already pathetic attacks lost even more strength as my head began to spin and water entered my lips.

My entire body spazzed as my lungs tried to draw air from the water and I felt my whole being twitch over and over again as my chest turned to fire and the world faded away.∞

I bolted upright, hands going to my throat as my legs furiously kicked at the air where a creature had held me captive an instant ago.

I felt my breathing begin to relax and my hands drifted down from my neck, clenching the sheets as I reassured myself that I was in fact, _not_ drowning in an ocean at the hands of a horrible monster somewhere. In reality I was laying in my bed, having just woken up from yet another nightmare.

I bit back a sigh, pressing the heel of my hand into my eyes to try and relieve the stinging. School had been back for a little over two weeks, and sleep had rapidly become mine and Eddie's own personal segments of torture. I wasn't entirely sure how he was faring, but I constantly found myself jumping at loud noises and constantly mumbling to myself. I'd bitten my nails down so far they'd started bleeding at least five times already, and getting my homework done was all but impossible.

Fabian had asked me more than a dozen times what was wrong but I was sticking firm with the excuse that over the summer I'd developed a temporary case of incurable insomnia. I could tell he didn't believe me and I honestly didn't blame him, but Eddie and I had agreed the others did not need to go through this.

I gingerly ran a hand through my hair, letting a small groan escape my lips when I realized it was soaking wet and meshed into a dozen different knots. Casting a glance towards a soundly sleeping Amber, I quietly retrieved my hairbrush from the nightstand and began tugging it through my hair.

My fingers began to go numb and my eyelids started to droop as the last of my adrenaline faded away, but every time I thought I might fall back asleep I gave an extra hard pull on my hair, letting the pain jerk me back to consciousness. Lately I was typically running on two to six hours of sleep a day depending on the duration of my nightmares, but I was determined to keep going until I collapsed. Once a night was enough, I felt no desire to nearly die twice in less than twelve hours.

I set the brush down as I smoothed out the last of my hair and raked my eyes over the room, searching for something else to do to keep me up. My gaze blearily slid around my surroundings, past the bookshelf, Amber's bed, Amber's vanity, the closet, the glow coming from underneath the closet, my discarded bathrobe –

A rod of steel slammed into my spine as my eyes ricocheted back to their previous position to take in the soft glow coming from underneath the closet where I'd taken to hiding the book at night. I swung my legs out from under the covers, feeling the now damp fabric brush against my skin as I tiptoed over and gently tugged it out.

I blinked a few times, trying to see through the bright light that stood out in stark contrast against the darkened room, and carried it back to my bed, grateful Amber's night mask would block it out. I slid it out of my hands and onto my comforter and had just turned to get my bathrobe to cover up the glow when the book cover opened onto my bedding with a muffled _thud_.

My eyebrows tugged themselves up my forehead and my jaw felt itself drop as, without me so much as breathing on it, the book flipped page after page after page after page after page faster than I could keep up with until it finally ceased movement, the glow continuing to pulsate as it lay there. I stood still as a statue, holding my breath as I waited to see what would happen next. Would the book's pages jump out of the cover and form a paper person? Would the text fly off the page and come to life? Would the book spontaneously combust?

I watched cautiously as the glow rose up out of the pages and began swirling around, eventually morphing into the form of the woman who'd given me the book in the first place. "Peace, Chosen One." She smiled at me but I couldn't help but recoil a bit as she did that creepy talk without moving her mouth thing again. "All will be well."

"All will be well?" I whispered harshly, my hands involuntarily clenching into fists as I tried to not wake Amber up. "All will be well? Do you have any idea of what I've been through these past few weeks?"

Lady Person had the grace to look at me with sympathy, but I stubbornly folded my arms as she reached out to place a ghostly hand on my shoulder. "The right path is never the easiest." Her words reverberated through the air, throbbing and pulsing with energy. "I am too weak to give you much assistance Chosen One. But I can give you this." Lady Person left one hand on my shoulder and waved the other at the book, causing the pages to again flip out of control. They finally came to a stop and at an encouraging nod from the Lady Person, I stepped closer to my bed.

I leaned over the book, blinking in confusion when the hieroglyphics wiggled and squirmed around until they'd formed words of English. "I can read it," I whispered in awe. I let my fingers gently trace the stiff, yellow page, and then turned back to the woman. "What is it?"

Her eyes darkened as she folded her arms around herself. "A protection. The Dream Watcher has been pulling you into our realm in her attempts to break you." Lady Person stepped towards me and placed a transparent finger on my locket. "Use the charm on that page to enchant an object, something inconspicuous. It will allow you to control where you go when you enter our realm. Think of me when you fall asleep to find and free me."

I shook my head, trying to understand what she was saying. "I think there's been some sort of mistake. I'm not some kind of enchantress, I can't charm anything, I'm just… me."

Lady Person smiled at me, eyes twinkling. "You are the Chosen One," she whispered, mouth never moving. "You have the magic of Horus, one of the gods of Egypt in you. You can do whatever you desire."

I meant to open my mouth to protest but was suddenly overcome with a wave of exhaustion. I summoned all the mental energy I possessed to try and fight the sleepiness flooding my system, but the Lady Person gently steered me into my bed. "Rest now, Chosen One. I do not know when I will be able to contact you again."

I blearily turned my head to look at her as she tucked the covers around me, soothing me into a blanket cocoon and managed to ask one more question. "Wasyurname?" I mumbled, fighting to hear the answer.

I closed my eyes as Lady Person stroked my hair away from my face, letting myself think for one wonderful moment that my mother was doing it, not her. "You may call me Nepthys." The words wrapped around me, ringing in my ears and swirling through my mind, carrying me to sleep on a cloud of oblivion.

* * *

"Nina I swear if I have told you once I have told you a million times: Stop. Bouncing."

I barely heard Patricia's request, but caught enough of it that I forced my leg to still as I shot another glance across the table at Eddie. I didn't have to look at him to know that the dark circles under his eyes – identical to mine – mirrored bruises. I didn't have to look at him to know that his uniform was rumpled after spending the night on the floor. I didn't have to look at him to know that he'd been spending the past twenty minutes eating breakfast as slowly as he possibly could. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was doing it on purpose.

Apparently I did however, have to stare at him as hard as I could to try and make him see how anxious I was. My leg started bobbing up and down again as I tried to force some kind of Chosen One – Osirian telepathy to get him to hurry up.

"Stop bouncing!" My head jerked sideways to see Patricia glaring at me and I mumbled an apology before running a semi-shaky hand through my hair. Last night had been the longest stretch of undisturbed sleep I'd had since school started, but one night couldn't make up for about two weeks.

Fabian placed his hand on my wrist and I turned in time to see him open his mouth, undoubtedly to ask what was wrong. I steeled myself to lie again, trying to ignore the fireworks that were going off where his skin touched mine and attempted to subtly take a breath.

"Nina – "

Eddie wiping his face off saved me from him being able to finish the question and I promptly shot up to my feet. "You're done! Finally. Come on you have to walk me to school I need to talk to you. That took forever." Words spewed out of my mouth at the speed of sound with a distinct lack of rhyme or reason as I snatched my bag and sped around the table to grab Eddie's arm and tug him to his feet.

He looked at me in confusion. "Um what?"

I gave a very dramatic sigh and repeated myself at a more human pace as I slung my bag into a more comfortable position on my arm. "Now come on."

"I thought I was meant to walk you to school," Fabian cut in and I mentally kicked myself for not having been able to wait until a less obvious time to talk to Eddie. But I couldn't have possibly waited until later, I was much too impatient and this was much too important.

"Right, but I need to talk with him, about something, school-related." I tripped a bit over my words as I shoved Eddie's bag into his hands and began steering him out of the room. "But I don't mean like classes-related, I mean like something else that's not classes and him being the headmaster's son and all who else would know better than he knows because he definitely knows well." I was able to finally stop rambling as I slammed the door behind us and began marching him down the road to the school building.

"Mind telling me what that was about?" I chose to ignore the faint note of irritation in Eddie's voice as I fiddled with my locket.

I glanced back at the house, checking to make sure no one was following us before I answered. "Are you ready for something beyond major?" As eager as I was to tell him, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy torturing him a little bit. He nodded and I quickly relayed what had happened last night.

"You could read the book?" he interrupted me at one part.

"It looked like perfectly normal English," I agreed. "And please don't ask me how because I have absolutely no idea." I held up my hand to forestall further interruptions and told him what Nepthys had said the charm would do. "And apparently I can use the charm on something of yours as well as mine. We might actually be able to catch up on sleep."

We were nearing the building's entrance at this point and had to lower our voices so the lower years didn't hear us. "And you're sure you can do this?" Eddie whispered, allowing himself to look hopeful.

I nodded. "Absolutely not." He looked at me in confusion and laughed. I felt tension drain out of my shoulders at the sound and didn't hesitate to lean into him as he slung an arm around my shoulders. "But it's the only chance we have. We know these dreams aren't just some wacky coincidence because of the, 'souvenirs'," I made over exaggerated air quotes around the word with a roll of my eyes. "That we keep bringing back with us. Nepthys said we keep being taken to her and Lizard Lady's realm, so if we can control when we go and where we go when we get there, we might actually stand a chance of understanding what's happening to us."

We reached Eddie's locker and he casually spun in the combination, swinging the locker open and fixing his hair in the mirror he'd stuck on the inside. "You're so vain," I teased him as he carefully adjusted the strands. "Afraid Patricia will dump you if you've got a few hairs out of place?"

"Zip it Chosen One," he quipped, shooting me a look.

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms, leaning against the locker next to his. "And what happens if I don't? You'll protect me to death?" I challenged. "Face it: as my Osirian, you're not exactly in the best position to threaten me," I teased. Eddie made a face at me as he pulled a notebook out and shoved it in his bag. I grinned and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you at first period."

I walked over to my locker and dialed in the combination, grabbing my lab book and government notes for later. I opened up my bag and slid my things in, sighing when they got wrinkled and folded as I fit them next to the book. One of the downsides of carrying it with me everywhere I went, it left almost no room for my school stuff. It took me long enough that by the time I'd finished, the halls were crowded with students rushing to finish homework and find teachers. I slipped past everyone else, doing my best to be invisible as I made my way towards the Science classroom for first period as the five-minute-warning bell rang.

I walked in to see Mara already there, doing a complicated looking equation on the board. I held back an exasperated smile and slid into my desk, pulling out the homework. Fabian slid into his usual spot next to me and I smiled at him. My expression morphed into confusion though, when instead of returning it and squeezing my hand like I expected him to, he barely gave me a nod before looking around in his bag for something I had a feeling he'd never find.

"Did I do something to make you mad at me?" The back of his head was still facing me so I fixed my stare firmly on his ear as I waited for an answer.

"No," he said shortly, still not looking at me.

"Then can you tell me what's wrong?" I had a feeling I might be pushing my luck but I could not for the life of me figured out what I had done to make him so frustrated.

Fabian's bag landed on the table with more force than necessary and I raised my eyebrows. "It's nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing." When he didn't answer I gently took his hand, twining our fingers together. "Will you please talk to me?"

Fabian stared at our hands for a minute, idly rubbing a soft circle across my knuckles over and over. He opened his mouth and my ears pricked up in anticipation, but before he could get out more than an, "It's just that – ", the bell rang and Mr. Sweet called the class to attention. I felt an urge to kick the table over in frustration of the bad timing, but wrestled with the feeling and eventually managed to subdue my newfound desire to destroy school property.

We didn't get another chance to talk until the lunch was almost over when Fabian came up to me at my locker. "Hey Nina, do you have a minute?"

I nodded, shutting my locker as I turned to face him. "What's up?"

He bit his lip and anxiously looked around, fiddling with the strap of his messenger bag. "Listen, about earlier, I didn't…" he trailed off, visibly searching for the right words before trying again. "I mean, I wasn't…" and again. "It was just that.…" Fabian took a breath and moved a step closer to me so that all appearances of personal space were tossed out the window as he tried again. "It's not that I was angry at you. I was just a bit… upset with you, I guess."

"Care to elaborate?" I prompted, reminding myself that despite the fact that Fabian was so close I could almost feel the body heat radiating off of him, I still needed to breathe if I didn't want to pass out.

"I feel like there's something you're not telling me." I bit the inside of my cheek at this revelation, praying he didn't notice.

"What don't you think I'm telling you?" I tried, fighting to keep my voice steady.

He sighed and looked around again before taking another small step closer to me and I had to fight to not throw my arms around him and never let go. "I don't know but you and Eddie you're acting all, secretive lately. Like you know something the rest of us don't." I forced myself to relax as Fabian stared at me intently, reminding myself there was no way he could know. "We're Sibuna, Nina. Amber, Patricia, Alfie, Joy. Me. Not just you and Eddie. We're a team. Whatever you guys are dealing with, you don't have to do it alone."

"Yes I do." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them and I immediately wanted to take the sentence back but the look of triumph in his eyes told me I was too late. The logical part of my brain told me I should take a step back, should get to where the scent of his soap wasn't flooding my nose and making it hard to think straight, should get to where he wasn't so close I all I had to do was lean in a few inches and we'd be kissing.

"No you don't. We'd help you, you know that," he insisted. Fabian lifted a hand so that it was right next to my cheek and I held my breath as he hesitated a half-second, before gently tucking my hair behind my ear. "I'd help you."

I thought about all the sleepless nights and the torturous visions, I thought about the 'souvenirs' Eddie and I had been bringing back with us and I so desperately wanted to open my mouth. To confide in him about everything that had been happening, for him to say what I needed to hear, that it would be all right. But then I remembered Senkhara taking over my body, remembered her as me throwing lightning at Fabian, remembered Joy crumpling to the ground.

"You almost died last year." It took me a few seconds to realize I'd spoken out loud, but I locked my gaze on his and continued, "You almost died because of _me_."

"That was Senkhara you had nothing to do with it," he insisted and I didn't register that I'd started crying until he pulled me into a hug and I felt something warm and wet running down my face. "You know I'll always be here for you Nina." Fabian pressed his lips to my temple and I tightened my grip on him.

"Thank you," I muttered as the bell rang, pulling back to press my sleeves into my eyes. "Come on we have history."

I fanned my face as we walked to the classroom, focusing on my breathing and by the time we arrived I was reasonably certain my eyes didn't look too red. Fabian and I slid into our seats as we waited for Mr. Luciado. The rest of the class soon followed and I waved at Amber and Patricia as they entered. Eddie was right on their heels and he frowned when he saw me, mouthing, 'you OK?'. I gave him an appreciative smile and nodded.

When the bell rang and Mr. Luciado still hadn't arrived, the students looked around in confusion for a few moments until Alfie cawed in excitement, "Free period!" Everyone laughed and we began chatting with one another and doing homework for our other classes. I was saved from further discussion with Fabian when Amber dragged me over to her desk, insisting she'd found a new technique to get rid of the bags under my eyes.

She was trying to convince me to let her put some sort of egg yolk-avocado-sour cream mixture on my face when the door opened and a call of " _Defremo quievet,_ quiet down everyone!" turned our attention to Mr. Sweet standing in the doorway, looking displeased.

We all shuffled back to our seats, some of us more bashfully than others, and Mr. Sweet walked to the front of the classroom, eyeing us disapprovingly. "I regret to inform you that Mr. Luciado has handed in his resignation."

Whispers flooded the classroom as everyone turned to their friends and immediately began gossiping, but I didn't have enough time to do anything other than look at Fabian before Mr. Sweet called back our attention. "I was just informing his replacement of how _respectful_ , and _good-natured_ you are, and I expect you to will not disappoint me. Now please give a warm welcome, to Ms. Bess Abbott."

Everyone turned towards the door as a young woman in her late twenties to early thirties entered. Her form-fitting black pants would've drawn catcalls from the guys had anyone other than the headmaster been in the room, and she had finished the outfit with a crisp white shirt and navy blazer. Her hair was done up in some sort of complicated bun I couldn't possibly hope to imitate with two pencils piercing through, holding it in place, and gold jewelry decked her wrists and hung from her ears. She looked as though she was ready to give a presentation at the Smithsonian, not teach a high school history class.

"Hello everybody." Ms. Abbott smiled at us, although I thought it looked more like a leer as she set her heavy binder down. Long, slender, darkly painted fingers plucked a piece of chalk up as she almost lazily wrote her name up on the board. "As Eric said, my name is Ms. Abbott and I will be your new history teacher." She turned back and smiled at us, clasping her hands in front of her. She looked around at us and when her eyes landed on me her eyes seemed to darken as she said. "I have a feeling we're all going to be _very_ good friends."

I swallowed, my nails cutting crescents into my palms as I refused to blink until she turned to someone else. We spent the rest of the period introducing ourselves and filling out a worksheet to demonstrate what we already knew. By the time the bell rang the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up and it was taking all of my self-control not to grind my teeth together and I literally bolted out the door the second class was dismissed. I briskly walked through the halls, trying to shake the feeling of her eyes on me, not stopping until I slid into my French desk.

Eddie was only a few seconds behind me and he knelt in front of my desk, eyes brimming with concern. "Nina what's wrong?"

"Why does anything have to be wrong?" I asked flippantly, still a bit shaken. "Can't I just be really excited for French class to start?"

He gave me an exasperated look, folding his arms on my desk. "Nina. I could feel your panic from across the room during history. What's got you so spooked?"

I rolled my neck, trying to get my nerves to calm down but I still felt like a kid who'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "It's nothing, really. Ms. Abbott gives me the creeps is all."

Eddie gave me a small smile and I felt a surge of affection for him as he whispered, "Me too. Something's off about her."

I wanted to talk more with him about it, but by that point other people in the class had arrived – including Mr. Duval – and he returned to his seat as Fabian entered. "Nina what's wrong?"

I shook my head, giving him a smile. "It's nothing." He opened his mouth to argue but I didn't give him the chance. "It doesn't matter, really."

Alfie and Jerome entering the classroom wrestling, Alfie's shirt halfway over his head and the sleeves tied together, saved me from having to excuse away my behavior. Everyone laughed as Mr. Duval attempted to restore order and he finally managed to get all of Alfie's limbs back where they belonged as the bell rang.

I had been a bit surprised on the first day of school when I met Mr. Duval, he'd seemed a bit young to be a teacher. And now that we were two weeks in, I could say with complete confidence my opinion had not changed in the slightest. Never mind the fact that he was extremely good-looking, his organization and classroom control skills left more than a bit to be desired. Everyone waited anxiously as he pulled out the tests we'd taken the first week of school, eager to see how they'd done.

Mr. Duval talked about how he was sure we'd tried our hardest but some us definitely needed to step it up, and how if we'd gotten less than 60% to talk to him after class. I raised my eyebrows at that. Some people got less than 60%? Yikes.

He handed me my test and I didn't even bother to glance at it before shoving it in my bag, knowing I'd passed with flying colors. Everyone else spent the rest of their time going over the subjunctive tense, while I spent my time scrawling down prompts in my notebook, making sure to put them in French so it'd look like I was taking notes.

After school that day I went up to Eddie who was verbally sparring with Patricia on the couch. "Hey can I talk to Eddie for a second?" I grabbed his elbow with my hand and summoned up the last of my mental control to not yank him away right that second.

Patricia rolled her eyes and cast me a slightly disparaging look. "Would it matter if said no?" she sniped, somewhat bitterly, and I frowned.

"Well if you need to talk to him I can wait."

But she was already shaking her head and standing up, waving us off. "No it's fine. Go on ahead, have your Chosen One Osirian American conversations all you want, see if I care. I'm going to go find Joy."

I felt a bit guilty as she walked away, but Trudy was out and Victor was MIA again and everyone else was downstairs, meaning now was as good a time as we were likely to get for me to charm our items. Eddie headed to his room to grab his object and I headed upstairs to mine and Amber's room, taking the book with me. All throughout the day I'd been nervous it would suddenly start glowing again, and was beyond relieved when it hadn't.

I shut the door and pulled out a pair of earrings Amber had got me for my birthday last year. Small little studs of yellow diamonds, they were almost completely inconspicuous, no one would question me wearing them and if I didn't want anyone to see them, all I'd have to do was cover my ears with my hair. Eddie came in a few minutes later, shoveling chips into his mouth. I raised my eyebrows and he shrugged. "I got hungry," he defended himself. At least that's what I think he said. His words came out a little muffled so it sounded more like, "Yi 'ot un'ry."

I held out my hand and he dropped a short necklace with a shark's tooth at the end in my outstretched palm, and I turned back to the book. Flipping it open to the page I'd bookmarked while Eddie locked the door, I took a shaky breath, staring down at the page that was suddenly English.

Eddie managed an enormous swallow and brushed his hands off before putting them on my shoulders. "Relax Chosen One. Just take a deep breath." I obeyed, leaning back against him as I forced myself to inhale, and then exhale, and repeat. "You can do this," he assured me, giving my shoulders a light squeeze before shoving another handful of chips in his mouth. I bit back a laugh and put the objects down, shaking out my hands as I took another breath. I placed one hand on my locket, wrapping my fingers around the talisman and held my other hand over the objects we'd chosen, trying to make myself calm down.

I looked down at the page again and said the charm, the words effortlessly flowing off my tongue. I'd been worried I'd trip or stumble over the words, or that halfway through I'd come across a word I had no idea how to pronounce like 'discombobulate'. But I spoke quickly and surely, my voice seeming to wisp around the room and echo in my ears. As I spoke a red nimbus of power started to form around my hands and my locket, and I calmly kept reading as it flowed in a blood red smoke stream around the objects, giving them a beguiling shiver as I finished and dropped my hands to my bed, feeling suddenly drained.

I watched as Eddie's necklace and my earrings seemed to absorb the last of the red wisps into themselves, trying to swallow away the dryness of my mouth and regain my breath. I pressed a shaking hand onto my chest, feeling my heart weakly pound beneath my fingers as though each beat was a struggle and lay my head back on the pillow, hearing a dull buzzing fill my ears.

On some level I registered Eddie was shaking me, asking me to answer him but my tongue felt like cotton and my head felt like it'd been stuffed full of concentrated drowsiness, and I could do no more than blink every so often. I'm not sure how long I lay there before a gentle golden light started to creep around my body, cooling and soothing me, sending energy through my body. I slowly sat up, feeling sluggish and clumsy, my wrist near folding in on itself as I pushed myself up so I was sitting, not lying on my mattress.

I turned to see Eddie gripping my forearm and concentrating intently, brow furrowing and hands glowing. I dragged my hand, which seemed to weigh about ten pounds extra, and tapped him clumsily on the arm. His eyes popped open and when he saw me sitting up and looking at him he released his vice-like grip and threw his arms around me. I leaned into him tiredly as the flow of energy cut off, letting him support me. "Don't scare me like that!" Eddie commanded as he pulled away to look me in the eyes. "Don't ever scare me like that again!"

I nodded robotically, as though there were a string attached to the top of my head that was jerking me up and down. My head started ringing again and I carefully lay back down, willing my head to be silent. Amber eventually came up and announced that it was dinnertime and I somehow managed to make my way down to the table.

I don't know when I'd enjoyed on of Trudy's meals less in my life than I had that night. My tongue felt thick and my head felt heavy and my fingers felt much too clumsy to have anything to do with the ridiculously tiny utensils. I just wanted to go to bed, but at the same time the last thing I wanted to do was go to sleep because I didn't want the nightmares that were sure to come with it. I'm pretty sure Fabian kept saying my name to try and ask if I was OK but I just felt so twisted around and pulled about that I could barely keep myself conscious, let alone responsive.

At some point someone – I wasn't even sure who at this point – carried me upstairs. I wasn't wholly aware of what was happening but I felt an arm under my shoulders and another under my knees and my body was swaying with movement that wasn't mine, as though I'd been taken on a boat. I knew when we were going upstairs and I knew when we were almost to my room and I knew when my stomach suddenly swirled and clenched and I clapped a hand on my mouth and shoved on the chest of whoever was carrying me. I blindly stumbled into the bathroom, my throat stinging from the acid and barely managed to make it to the toilet in time to empty the contents of my stomach.

I gagged and shivered and threw up again, heaving, eyes screwed shut as I tried to get some semblance of self-control over my body. I felt a hand stroking my hair, keeping it away from my face as I kept throwing up until there wasn't anything left in my stomach. I dry heaved a few more times and my body wouldn't stop shivering as fingers of cold searched their way down my back, but when I finally stopped the person picked me up again and carried me to bed, tucking the covers around me and then I knew it was Eddie because he put my earrings in before switching off the lights as he left.

I lay there under the blankets, hot and feverish and shivering, teeth chattering for I don't know how long before I was finally swept off to the land of sleep.

* * *

I drifted in and out of consciousness all night, never fully awake but never truly asleep, skating the border between dreaming and not.

Eventually I blinked open my eyes and felt awake – _actually_ awake, not whatever it was I'd been since yesterday. I leisurely stretched, running my hands through my hair as I sat up and arched my back. I glanced at the clock and nearly did a double-take when I saw the digital face blinking 1:37 up at me.

Trudy chose that time to walk in and smiled when she saw me. "Oh dearie you're awake!" She quickly bustled over and pressed her hand to my forehead and cheeks. "Thank goodness your fever has gone down, Victor and I were starting to worry we'd have to call the hospital!" I opened my mouth in confusion but Trudy quickly scooped me up and moved me along to the bathroom. "Fabian promised to let you copy his class notes and get your homework and I called ahead to tell your teachers you'd be taking the day off so don't you worry about a thing dearie. Just have yourself a nice wash-off and then if you're feeling up to it maybe a bite to eat."

Trudy left me in the bathroom and I stripped off my uniform from yesterday that I was still wearing, and hopped underneath the showerhead. I turned the water on as hard as it would go and relaxed, letting the heated liquid hit my shoulders and run down my body.

When I got out and wrapped myself in a towel I felt better than I had in a few days, and by the time I'd pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a clean T-shirt I felt almost new.

I was downstairs perusing through the book, looking for other pages in English when I heard voices coming up the walkway. I quickly slid the book into my bag and pulled out my Environmental Science textbook, so that when they entered I was doing nothing out of the ordinary.

There was a gasp and I looked up just in time to get hit with a wave of blonde hair as Amber cried, "Nina!" She pulled back before I even had the chance to hug back and beamed at me. "You're feeling better?"

I managed a smile as I tucked my hair behind my ears. "Yeah, Amber, I'm feeling a lot better thanks for asking."

"At least you're out of bed," Patricia called as she dropped her bag on the table with a thump. "Trudy said if anyone woke you up we'd have to feed ourselves for the rest of the week."

I was about to answer but Amber waved everyone off. "I'm sure you all missed her very much but Nina and I need to have a girl talk so you guys are just going to have to wait!" She grabbed my hand – somewhat gentler than normal – and pulled me up, barely giving me time to grab my bag as my ES book fell from my lap.

I tripped up the stairs, burning with curiosity. What did she want to talk about? Amber lead me to our room and shut the door behind us. And even though I was feeling better I was by no means one hundred percent, and by this point my legs were ready to collapse out from under me. I plopped on the bed, practically sighing as I hit the mattress. I looked over to see Amber glaring at her reflection, hands on her hips and rolled my eyes. "Amber I already told you. Jerome drew the crack on there as a joke, you didn't really break your mirror."

"That's not what I'm thinking about," Amber frowned, not moving.

I tilted my head, trying to puzzle out what had her so troubled. "So what's the problem?"

Amber waited a few seconds before she sighed. "Nina would you say I'm smart enough?"

Warning signs went off in my brain as I was plunged into the deep-end of one of Amber's crises' of confidence. "Depends on what you're trying to do," I answered carefully. "For example if you decided instead of going to school tomorrow you were going to join NASA, I'd say give it a few more years."

"What's NASA?" Amber asked, not moving.

I mentally kicked myself and shook my head. "American thing. Never mind. So where's this coming from anyway?"

Amber stared at her reflection for a few more minutes before heaving a massive sigh and plunking herself down next to me. Her head found my shoulder, long blonde hair spilling over our backs and I comfortingly rubbed her arm. "Alfie's parents want him to break up with me," she revealed.

My jaw dropped in disbelief. "That's ridiculous! What parents wouldn't love you?"

"Apparently his," she moped, swinging her head off my shoulder to stare at me. "They told him I'm too blonde, Nina, and said that if he wants to get into a good college he has to be with someone serious."

I rolled my eyes. "Amber that's crazy. You're brilliant."

Amber gave me a patronizing look. "Don't sugarcoat it Nina. I couldn't pass a science test if the teacher handed me the answers."

"You're very street-smart," I defended her earnestly, clasping her hand in mine. "Amber, you're a genius. You've said it, Alfie's said it, I'm saying it. You're brilliant. And Alfie is _not_ going to break up with you just because his parents are a little flighty. He's crazy about you."

By the time Trudy called us down for dinner, Amber was feeling slightly more cheerful and I was confident I could actually keep food down. After Fabian caught me up on the classwork I'd missed I finished my homework and went to the downstairs bathroom to wait for Eddie. He entered a few minutes later, locking the door behind him.

"What was that all about?" he demanded, looking cheated. I didn't even try to explain, figuring I'd let him vent first. "You said the charm would stop the Crazy Lady from taking us, not that it'd nearly kill you! Do you have any idea how scared I got? How pale you were?" I still didn't say anything as his fists clenched and unclenched, while he struggled for words. "I could _feel_ you dying Nina," he finally managed, his voice sounding strangled. Eddie sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, seeming exhausted.

I decided he was done for now and spoke up. "Eddie, if I'd known what would've happened I would have told you." I wrapped my arms around myself and stared at him, willing him to look at me as he sat on the edge of the tub and didn't move. "I am OK you know. I didn't die."

Eddie finally raised his head but only to glower at me. " _Barely_ ," he bit out.

I crossed my arms. "Look if all you're going to do is snap at me I'm changing the topic." I waited for him to contradict me, and when nothing was forthcoming I forged ahead. "Fabian knows something's up."

Eddie snapped his head up, mouth already forming a question I didn't give him the chance to ask. "I didn't tell him anything, I swear. He just seems to… have a sixth sense for these things I guess. He knows there's something I'm not telling him, and he's pretty sure it's Sibuna related, but he has no idea what it is."

"Well what did you tell him?" Eddie asked anxiously, his eyes staring at me so intently it was as though he believed he could extract an answer from me purely by sheer force of will.

"Technically nothing," I replied evasively, shifting my eyes to the ground. "I didn't tell him what was going on I just… reminded him how I kinda almost killed him last year to try and make him back off."

"So basically you confirmed that whatever we're up to is Sibuna related," Eddie summed up and I nodded, feeling guilty. "Pretty much."

"Fantastic," Eddie sighed. "What happened to keeping them out of this?"

"Well it's not like I walked into school with a neon Sibuna sign attached to my forehead," I protested. "Fabian figured out something was up all by himself."

Eddie nodded absently, staring at the bathroom wall. "So what are we going to do about it?"

I bit my lip. "About what?" I dodged, hoping I was wrong.

"About him knowing. Do we tell him?" Eddie clarified.

I felt my fists clench and I swallowed. "I don't know," I admitted. "Honestly I'm still against any of them being involved even a little bit. But if we absolutely have to drag them into it I'd at least like to know what we're up against."

"He won't wait for an answer forever," Eddie pointed out. We sat in silence for awhile, trying to puzzle a way out of our situation before my Osirian spoke up again. "OK, how about this. Regardless of how totally zapped you got by making them, we know the charms work right?"

I nodded. "Seeing as last night was the first time in weeks I haven't died in my sleep I'd say it's a pretty safe assumption."

Eddie playfully shook his finger at me. "Less sass Chosen One," he admonished with a slight grin and I bit back a laugh. "So since we know the charms work, how about we do what Nessie told you – "

"Her name's Nepthys not Nessie," I interrupted.

Eddie waved his hand in nonchalance. "Same difference. Now let me finish. How about we do what Nessie told you and picture her, and after we free her she explains what we're supposed to do next and _then_ we decide whether or not we bring in and who. Sound good?"

We confirmed that Eddie did indeed know what Nepthys looked like, and went back to the living room a few minutes apart to allay suspicion. I managed to stay busy with Amber, not giving Fabian a chance to finish our conversation from earlier, until it was only 30 minutes to ten, at which point Trudy sent us all to get ready for bed.

I was almost halfway up the stairs when I turned to check if Patricia was coming and saw Joy. At the bottom of the stairway. Flirting with Fabian. I felt my hands clench as Joy bashfully tucked her hair behind her ear and playfully swatted him on the arm and I felt my head split in two again. One side of me was insisting I let it go, that I remember Fabian wasn't interested and move on. The other demanded I didn't let last year repeat itself, and told me to march back downstairs and remind Joy that he was _my_ boyfriend, not hers. Big surprise which one I listened to.

I felt the banister glide beneath my fingers as I quickly darted back down to the bottom as Joy shyly looked up at him from beneath her lashes, a small pout on her lips. "Not interrupting anything am I?" I kept a smile on my lips, carefully gauging Joy's reaction out of my peripheral vision and felt a vicious stab of triumph as her face fell.

"Joy was just saying good night," Fabian intervened, quickly sensing danger. Fabian seemed aware that every time Joy and I got within ten feet of each other, sparks were bound to start flying and being the peacemaker that he was, he almost always tried to defuse the situation.

I decided to take pity on him and kept my gaze off of Joy. "Of course," I laughed, tossing my hair over my shoulder and leaning against the railing. "Anyway, good night Fabian." I put my hand on the back of his neck and took a half-step forward so that our bodies were dangerously close together as I met his lips with mine. Fireworks pin wheeled throughout my body and colors exploded behind my eyelids, my other hand went to his shoulder and the feeling of his hands on my hips nearly made me explode. But as enjoyable as it was, the last thing I wanted was for Victor to catch us and so I gently pulled back and didn't bother hiding the smile that was pulling at my mouth. "Sweet dreams," I teased, not giving him the chance to respond before I turned and headed back up the stairs.

Joy had left while I was kissing Fabian and the triumph in my chest was slightly spoiled by an inkling of guilt that I did my best to brush away. So what if I'd stooped to Joy's level? She'd put me through plenty last year, I was simply returning the favor.

I refused to feel guilty for kissing my own boyfriend – regardless of my reasons for that particular kiss at that particular time – and by the time I was ready for bed I'd almost completely succeeded. Amber pulled on her eye mask as Victor recited his favorite speech, and I flipped off the lights before crawling under the covers.

I waited until the hallway light had switched off before I reached over to the nightstand and grabbed one of the sleeping pills Eddie and I had begged from Trudy, claiming insomnia. With our dark circles and my recent mystery illness, it hadn't exactly taken a whole lot of persuasion. I put the pill under my tongue, recoiling at the lemony taste, and let my mind fill with the image of Nepthys. Her dark, smooth skin. Her black eyes that seemed to beckon you into them. Her blue, blue hair with its many, many black and gold braids; her golden jewelry…∞

* * *

∞"No Eddie," I deadpanned, voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's probably completely normal to think of a person and be taken to a _dungeon_."

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?" Eddie rolled his eyes and continued to poke around the room we were in. It wasn't the smallest space I'd ever been in, but it was close. No bigger than ten feet on each side and about as tall, the room contained a door with a thick, old-fashioned silver padlock welded onto it, a row of glittering keys across one wall and words across another: 'Choose wisely. Your first choice will be your last.'

"Hmm, let me see. Tiny room. No windows. Locked door. Seems to fit my dungeon expectations to a T," I snapped, examining the wall that had no keys, words or doors but did have three lanterns emitting a soft golden glow. I was experimentally pulling on different parts of them, hoping to trigger a secret exit.

"Well the thing about dungeons, Chosen One, is that the keys are normally on the outside of the cell. Not the inside," Eddie retorted as he examined the padlock.

"Right, well I guess you would know that. You know, what with your vast dungeon experience and all," I quipped, pressing my back against the wall and sliding down onto the cold damp floor. "There's got to be at least a dozen keys here. How can we possibly choose the right one?"

Eddie walked over and sat down next to me and I dropped my head on his shoulder, shivering as the damp air wrapped around my shoulders. "We could always just try random keys until we get it right," he suggested. I dully pointed at the warning as he repeated the same suggestion he'd given four times now. "They could be bluffing," he grinned, pulling me closer and trying to rub some warmth back into my arms.

"Not likely," I muttered, absently scratching my knee. I held up my hand to summarize as the true bleakness of our situation hit me and started ticking off fingers. "We've got a locked door. A few dozen keys to choose from to open said door. We only get one chance at choosing the right key. If we choose the wrong key I don't know what will happen but given my previous experience with stuff like this, it'll probably be something terrible."

He was quiet for a moment and I waited for him to whip up some sort of magical solution that would poof the problem away. "Nina?"

Eddie's voice was cautious and my fingers curled into fists. "Don't say it," I half-warned half-begged, knowing what was going to come out of his mouth.

But Eddie was nothing if not persistent, and so true to his stubborn, pigheaded nature he bravely forged ahead, saying the three words I was dreading. "We need Sibuna."

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POV's you'd like to see.**


	8. Chapter 7: Mara

**Mara**

Normally when I open my locker I'm not greeted with an avalanche of daisies.

But then I started dating Jerome Clark, and slowly grew used to the sweet, semi-romantic to romantic gestures that would pop up around me every so often.

I closed my mouth, which had fallen open in surprise, and looked at the white petals pooling around my shoes in wonder until my focus was stolen by a small weight dropping down on my head. I looked up and laughed to find Jerome standing next to me, looking rather smug. His arm snaked around my waist and before I could even toss up a 'How's it going?' he was pressing his lips to mine.

I brought an arm up to his shoulders and stood up on my tiptoes to bring myself as close to him as humanly possible, slanting my mouth to kiss him back harder. Euphoria pounded through my veins, and I retained just enough self-awareness to reach up and see what he had placed on my head a few seconds ago.

He broke away and winked at me, a smirk on his face. "Happy Tuesday Mara," Jerome grinned, as I pulled off what turned out to be a daisy wreath.

Wordlessly, I gestured at the flowers I was ankle-deep in as my boyfriend plucked the wreath from my hands and placed it back on my head. "What's all this?" I managed to ask, a smile worthy of the Cheshire Cat making it hard to speak.

Jerome tilted his head and pretended to consider, before giving a shrug as though it was obvious. "My wishing you a happy Tuesday. Didn't we just establish this?"

My eyebrows raised themselves up my forehead as I shook my head in disbelief and pulled my things out of my locker. "How did you even get in my locker?" I half-asked half-demanded. I'd never told anyone the combination so I was genuinely curious.

But true to form, rather than give me an actual answer, Jerome slung his jacket over his shoulder and smirked. "I have my methods."

I rolled my eyes in half-fondness half-exasperation and shut my locker as his fingers interlaced with mine and we started walking over to first period as I resolved to get the answer out of him later. "Wait but what about –" I started to turn, pointing out the mess of flowers still gracing the tiled floor but Jerome waved his hand airily and continued pulling me along. "I paid a third-year five pounds to clean them up," he explained, and I had to smile even wider because of _course_ he'd be that thorough.

We slid into our seats and I practiced balancing equations while waiting for the bell to ring. Correction – I _tried_ to practice balancing equations, but Jerome kept tugging on my ear and playing with my hair, and generally making it very, very, _very_ hard to focus on anything but him.

When class started Sweetie had us finish up the coal lab we had begun yesterday, so Jerome and Alfie and I headed over to our table. If it were this time two years ago, there's a startlingly high chance that Jerome and Alfie would've spent the class using the coal to draw war paint on each other's faces or something equally ridiculous. But fast forward to the present, and Jerome convinced Alfie to – if not cease goofing off entirely – not go out of his way to distract Jerome and I while we finished taking measurements.

I was writing down the mass of the bituminous coal when Jerome tugged on my sleeve. I turned and he held out the sparker, a look of surrender on his face. "I admit defeat," he deadpanned, and I laughed as I took the instrument from him. He stepped back to let me pass, and I lit the Bunsen burner on my first try. Jerome pointed an accusing finger at me as his eyebrows drew together into a 'V'. "You cheated," he determined, looking suspicious.

"How?" I tilted my head, doing my best to be coy, and bit my lip as I waited for his answer.

He shrugged, expression not moving. "Not sure yet. But you did."

I grinned and placed the sparker on the table, holding up a hand and stretching my fingers. "It takes a special touch," I teased, unable to help myself.

My knees went weak as his face shifted into a dangerous grin. "I'll show you a special touch," he suggested, voice dropping to a low whisper. I felt my stomach clench as his eyes burned into mine and had to force myself to turn away, unless I wanted to get a detention for public displays of affection during class.

I attempted to focus on my calculations to find the percentage of water in each of the coal types, but I heard a quiet laugh as he moved up behind me, and my grip tightened to the degree that I was nearly snapping my pencil in half. "Going to ignore me are you Jaffray?" I soundlessly shook my head, eyes not moving from my worksheet. I felt his hands wrap around my midsection, and almost on instinct I leaned back into him, his body heat burning through my uniform. "That's what I thought." I swore I could hear him grinning as his grasp on my body tightened and my throat sealed off. My toes curled as he leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to my cheek, and I ordered myself to get a grip before I tackled him onto the lab table and started making out with him then and there.

Extricating myself from his hold, I turned so we were face-to-face and put my hands on my hips. "School now. This later." I tried to make my voice as commanding as possible, but given that we were still pressed up against each other and I could see his eyes flickering back and forth between my eyes and my lips, I'm not entirely sure how well I did. But I must've somehow gotten at least part of my message across, because he smirked and gave a small nod of acknowledgement, before stepping back so that there was once again a school-appropriate amount of distance between us.

In celebration of being able to once again breathe freely, I pushed an exhale out through my lips, before jumping as there was a crash behind us. I turned around to see a defensive looking Alfie next to a broken triple beam balance scale and bit back a laugh as Sweetie rounded on him for damaging a valuable piece of equipment.

Throughout the rest of the day, Jerome took great pleasure of reminding me every so often of my promise for 'this later', often with a hand on my back or arm or leg. It got to the point that by the time French class rolled around my nerves were practically on fire and my eyes kept flitting between Mr. Duval and the clock as I waited impatiently for the bell to ring.

He ended the school day with a reminder that for those who had gotten 60% or less on the tests he'd passed back yesterday, to come and see him after class so they could finish working out a tutoring schedule and dismissed us. I haphazardly gathered up my things and shoved them into my bag, somehow managing to retain an appearance of calm as I exited the classroom and made my way back to the house, Jerome close on my heels.

My extremities were practically shot with anticipation as I thrust open the door and Jerome shut it behind us, and I barely perceived Trudy in the kitchen as I just about flew into Jerome and Alfie's room. A wild grin refused to leave my face and my fingers were tingling as I unceremoniously dropped my school bag and turned to see my boyfriend lock the door. My breath caught as his eyes locked on mine, and then before I knew it his things were on the ground and his arms were around my back and we were kissing as he drew me into him like he couldn't get enough of me.

On some level I was aware of when my hands found his shoulders in an effort to pull me even closer to him, but most of my thoughts were occupied with flying out my ears. One of his hands rose up from my back to fist itself in my hair as he pressed his lips even harder against mine, the taste of maple searing itself into my mouth. When he pulled back I involuntarily pushed forward, trying to join our lips together again before I realized he hadn't just pulled back but had stopped kissing me altogether. I barely had time to open my eyes halfway and see the dangerous look on his face before his hand was out of my hair and my legs were scooped out from under me. A small shriek escaped my mouth and I clutched at his neck as Jerome laughed as he walked across the room.

The two of us landed on his bed and as he let go of my legs I pulled them back so that I was laying on top of him as our lips joined together again. One of his hands found itself on my waist while the other pressed itself into the back of my head as a fire erupted in my stomach. Mick had been sweet, but never in a million years had we done anything like this. There was something intoxicating about being with Jerome, something tantalizingly sweet and dangerously irresistible. Maybe it was the way he said my name a thousand different ways, but each time like it was his favorite word. Maybe it was how he managed to convince me without even trying to do things like make out on his bed in his dorm room, something that just last year I would've never considered. Maybe it was that cheeky smirk he never seemed to stop wearing, or that feeling of drowning in ecstasy I got whenever he looked at me a certain way.

A series of knocks on the door startled me out of my musings and I practically threw myself off of Jerome, my feet landing on the floor as I hurriedly straightened my uniform and hair. I turned to see him still laying on the bed looking slightly amused and it spiked a surge of irritation in my chest. "Don't just sit there," I whispered desperately.

He held out his hands in a, 'well what would you like me to do?' gesture, and I sighed because I hadn't the faintest idea what he was supposed to do. I settled for whirling my hands about madly and zooming over to the door before whoever was outside got suspicious. I switched open the deadbolt and turned the knob; the door swung open and I was greeted with the only person in Anubis shorter than I was. "Hey Joy," I said in surprise, caught off guard when it wasn't Alfie. "What's up?"

The pixie-like girl rose her eyebrows and craned her neck, attempting to see past the slightly ajar door that my body was blocking. "You weren't in your room," she answered, unable to see my background. "Trudy said she thought she saw you and Jerome head this way, so here I am."

"What do you want?" I asked as I slid out of the room and shut the door behind me, sweeping a few stray hairs off my cheek.

Joy's expression melted into a combination of shame and self-resentment as she pulled a folded packet from her bag and held it out to me. "Right, so I kinda sorta maybe failed the French test," she drew out, her eyes staring at what must've been the test instead of me. "Problem is I've gone over it and I can't figure out what I did wrong, and I'd like to know before my meeting with Mr. Duval tomorrow."

I was reaching out a hand to grab the papers when the noise of something hitting a wall sounded from inside Jerome and Alfie's room. I turned in surprise, before facing Joy again, trying not to feel like a terrible person for hanging her out to dry. "You know, why don't you ask Nina?" I suggested.

The speed of sound possessed a slower travel rate than Joy's facial expressions in that moment. In less time than it took me to blink her mouth turned downwards into a scowl and her eyes morphed into a glare as she gave me the most condescending look I had ever received. "I would've thought it was obvious," she snapped, arms folding tightly against her chest.

I anxiously twisted a curl around my fingers, trying to think of a not-painful way to phrase my next words. "Look Joy. I don't know all the details of what happened between you and Fabian and Nina last year. But I do know, that out of all of us Nina's the best at French. I mean, it's not even a contest. It's been a few months since they got back together, and I know it sucks Joy, and I'm sorry I really am, but maybe it's about time you started trying to move on. If Nina can help you, then you should ask her for it."

I held my breath as she didn't move, waiting for the storm to hit before Joy simply rolled her eyes and shoved the test into her bag. "I'm not giving her anything to mock me over. You really think I want Little Miss Fluent finding out I got a 48% on what we learned last year? I'll see you later Mara."

"Joy wait," I grabbed her arm as she turned to walk away, grasping for words that would make her freeze. "It's not that I'm not sympathetic, it's just that you're my friend and I hate seeing you like this. You're just so miserable all the time."

Joy partly turned back so that I could see half of her face and gave a smile. "I'm fine Mara. Just need some time." Before I could protest again she tugged her arm out of my grip and walked back down the hall. I wanted to follow, but I had remembered what day it was and the fact that he was throwing things across the room told me it was probably already happening.

I slid back inside the room and locked the door behind me, biting my lip as I saw Jerome quietly arguing with someone on the phone. I lingered by the doorway for a while, uncertain as to whether or not my presence would be welcome. But then I decided that when he had asked for me to be near him today he had meant it and walked over, placing what I hoped was a comforting hand on his shoulder as he hung up.

He didn't speak for a while, just leaned against the wall doing a spectacular imitation of a statue, a hard expression on his face. I don't know how long he didn't move for, but I do know that at some point I shifted from keeping a hand on his shoulder to wrapping my arms around his upper body, pressing my small frame against him in support.

"Child services." I moved my hand to rub a few circles around his shoulder blades as he confirmed whom the call had been from. "My dad's apartment isn't entirely ideal for a young girl to grow up in apparently, so they're going to be taking temporary custody of Poppy until they've appraised my mum's living situation."

It took me a few seconds to wrap my mind around the enormity of the statement. I knew Jerome's younger sister had gone to live with their dad at the end of last year, but I hadn't realized she'd be taken away from her father this early in the custody battle.

I didn't say anything, just leaned into Jerome, letting him know I was there until he heaved a sigh and walked over to his desk. I bounced onto the bed, watching as he glared at his phone before throwing me a glance. "Would this break if I threw it at the wall?"

Unable to keep my mouth in a completely straight line, I raised an eyebrow as my lip curled into a smile and cast a pointed look at the textbook that was laying suspiciously at the foot of the wall with a broken spine. "Yes."

He shrugged. "Pity." His arm blurred and there was a crash and my head jerked to look at the pile of disassembled electronics underneath the new dent in the wall. My mouth dropped and I wordlessly opened and closed my jaw in shock as Jerome walked over to his bedside table, opened the drawer and pulled out a replica of the phone he had just smashed. At my even more confused look, he gave a shrug and a smirk. "Always have a backup," he winked, waving the phone at me.

* * *

After dinner that evening, I was studying on the couch with Fabian and Nina while Jerome and Alfie tried to see who could bounce the most coins into a cup. Patricia and Eddie were at the table bickering about an intense game of tic-tac-toe, Amber was across from me brushing her hair and Joy was poring over French notes on the ground, a frown of concentration on her face.

I watched out of my peripheral vision as the scowl on Joy's face got darker and the marks of her pencil got harsher until she slammed her textbook shut in frustration.

"I give up," she declared. "I can _not_ figure out what I did wrong on this test."

Nina ignored Joy's outburst and remained focused on her science textbook, but the rest of us acknowledged in some way or another that she had our attention. "Don't be like that Joy-less," Alfie grinned, before cheering and attempting some tricked-out version of the robot when his coin went in the cup.

"What do you mean you don't know what you did wrong?" Patricia called, absently smacking Eddie's hand away as he tried to steal a chip from the bowl next to her.

Joy tucked her knees up and laid her back down on the floor. "I mean all Mr. Duval did was mark a problem if I got it wrong, he failed however, to tell me _why I got it wrong_." I watched as she pressed her hands over her face and suppressed a moan. "C'est impossible."

"It's not impossible Joy, you just need a…" I circled my hand, trying to reclaim the word that had just been on the tip of my tongue. "A nudge in the right direction."

Joy mumbled something into her hands and I darted a glance at Nina, who was still steadfastly marking up her science notes, ignoring the ongoing conversation. Taking a quick breath, I sent up a quick prayer that Joy wouldn't hate me for what I was about to do. "Hey Nina, what did you get on the French test?"

Our resident female American lifted her eyes to me, eyebrows slightly raised in suspicion, but answered nonetheless. "98%."

"What, not a hundred? Come on Nina I thought you were supposed to be good at this," Jerome teased, as he added a tally to his side of his and Alfie's scoreboard.

She turned a glare on my boyfriend before answering, "He took points off for the essay at the end. Apparently my hand writing wasn't legible enough for him."

"You got points docked for handwriting? Nothing else?" Alfie checked, looking envious.

Nina shrugged, the corners of her lips twitching. "Well it's like Jerome said, I'm supposed to be good at this."

"Could you tell Joy what she did wrong then?" I suggested, ignoring the looks of shock I received.

"Did you seriously just suggest those two work _together_? And _not_ on each other's destruction?" Alfie clarified, looking at me as though I were insane.

I ignored him and focused on Nina, waiting for her answer. Her expression had soured and she angrily opened her mouth to reply, but before she could get a word out Fabian leaned over and whispered something in her ear. She looked at him in exasperation but he grabbed her hand and sent her a pleading look.

Nina sighed and turned to Joy. "Do you _want_ me to help you?"

Joy, who was sitting up now, pursed her lips and glared at me, fingering her failed test. "I wouldn't hate it if you told me what I did wrong."

Nina held out a hand and Joy reluctantly passed her test over as the tension in the room relaxed. For the most part we returned to what we had been doing prior to Joy's attempted surrender, but Joy and Amber joined Jerome and Alfie's game of Cups. Fabian and I quizzed each other on vocab terms while Nina marked up Joy's test, looking increasingly confused as she did so.

"Does anyone have their French test with them?" she asked at one point, looking around the room.

I got mine from my binder and passed it over as Eddie chimed, "Want me to take a look at it?"

Nina waved him off, concentrating on the tests in her hands, repeatedly flipping pages back and forth. "Joy you didn't change any of these answers did you?"

"No, why?" she answered.

Nina frowned at the test paper. "Because like less than half of these are actually wrong."

Joy rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Nina waved her over as Fabian and I watched. "See? He took off points for questions you got right. I even checked your answers against Mara's to be sure I wasn't doing it wrong, but he took points off you for things she did. This is like, 85% at least."

"Well if I did so amazing why did he fail me?" Joy demanded, folding her arms.

Nina shrugged. "Don't know. But either you passed or Mara and I both failed, and if I were a betting man – which I'm not – I'd say the former seems more likely." She handed the test back. "Ask Mr. Duval about it tomorrow, maybe he used the wrong answer key for yours or something."

"Is a few minutes of peace and quiet too much to ask from you miscreants?" Victor barked, materializing in the doorway. At his appearance, all laughter and smiles were immediately sucked out of the room, leaving nervous anticipation in their wake. Victor's special like that. "I have a blinding headache and require calm, and serenity. If you don't keep the noise down I can assure you I will personally speak with the headmaster and have you suspended."

"Even me?" Eddie challenged, and I had to physically bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

"Yes, Mr. Miller, _even you_ ," Victor scowled, but judging from Eddie's customary smirk, he wasn't buying it. Not that any of the rest of us were either. No way was Sweetie kicking out his own son. Casting a disparaging look around the room, Victor skulked back up the stairs, muttering about 'wretched children'.

The room breathed a sigh of relief as he left. "Is it just me, or does he seem even more charming than usual lately?" Alfie voiced.

"Alfie how can you say that? Victor was never charming and lately if anything he's even more rude than usual." Amber pouted, folding her arms.

"It was a rhetorical question Ambs," Alfie assured her.

He tried to give Amber a hug but she scowled and firmly turned her back on him. "Alfie what have I told you about asking questions that don't need answers?"

"To not do it," he sighed.

I was pulled away from their conversation as Trudy shooed us away to get ready for bed. I headed up the stairs – after a kiss good night from Jerome – and jumped in the shower before anyone else could and was brushing my teeth when I heard an argument coming towards me.

"Amber I'm allowed to have a personal life." The American accent and distinctly female vocals told me it was Nina.

"Don't be ridiculous! We are best friends, we have no personal lives from each other," a second voice – Amber's – insisted. "If something Sibuna related is going on I have a right to know. I'm one of the founding members."

"It's nothing!" Came the distinctly exasperated sounding reply. "Why can't you just leave it alone?"

"See the very fact that you want me to leave it alone, implies that there is an it to leave. Spill."

The bathroom door opened and it took me a second to realize the conversation had stopped. I glanced up in time to catch Nina shut her mouth in surprise. "Hey Mara! So, you're here. That's… great!" her voice was slightly more high-pitched than normal but I let it slide.

I spit a mouthful of toothpaste into the sink and answered while washing my hands, "Yeah I was just finishing up. Hey I couldn't help overhear, but um, what's a Sibuna?"

"Uh, a Sibuna!" Amber laughed, looking at her roommate expectantly. "Go ahead Nina, tell her what a Sibuna is!"

"A Sibuna, is, Amber's, poetry group. That she formed last year. With me and Fabian. Because she was failing English. But then she wasn't failing anymore so we disbanded it but now she thinks I'm trying to start it back up again for extra credit and not include her which I'm really not but she won't believe that." Throughout the explanation my eyebrows crept higher and higher up my head as Nina rattled off a lengthy answer in a single breath.

"Oh. OK." I gave a wave as I headed out the door. "See you in the morning."

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POV's you'd like to see.**


	9. Chapter 8: Eddie

**Eddie**

∞"Face it. It's impossible."

"It is not." Nina snapped. "There's a clue, or a hint, or some kind of sign that's supposed to show us which key is the right one, we just have to find it."

I rubbed my fingers into my eyes, trying to ignore the headache that was building up behind my temples. "Yeah, but we've been looking for three nights and nothing. An extra ten eyes can't hurt."

Nina folded her arms. "No. But it could hurt the owners of the eyes. They could get their heads chopped off or fall into a bottomless chasm or touch the wrong key and be turned to stone – "

"Turned to stone?" I didn't even try to hide my disbelief. "I thought this was Ancient Egypt, not Ancient Greece. Chill out Medusa."

"Well we don't know what'll happen if we choose the wrong key!"

"Still. Out of all the things that _could_ happen, turning to stone doesn't rank anywhere near the top ten." Nina ignored me and continued studying the keys, getting as close as possible without actually touching them. "Nina." Nothing. "Nina we need help. We don't even know where to start and assuming there's more tests after this, they're only going to get harder."

She finally turned to look at me and folded her arms, eyes flashing with steely determination. "Eddie do you know how many times we almost died last year? I'd say give or take about a dozen. You were only there for the end of it you don't know what it's like to watch Patricia have pendulums of doom an inch away from chopping her in half, you don't know what it's like to watch Amber go blind for 24 hours, you don't know what it's like to see Alfie hallucinate from spider venom and nearly knock into a wire that could kill him." Nina paused for a breath, looking stubborn as ever.

"You're right Nina. I don't know what that's like." I folded my arms and stared right back at her. "But I do know what it's like to learn your so-called friends have been keeping a secret from you for the better part of a year and then learn that you can help them. That you could've been helping the entire time. I would've helped sooner if you let me and I liked actually having the choice. They should have the choice."

"Really?" Nina arched an eyebrow and walked across the room. "Because you know that if Patricia has the choice, she will say yes. And what happens if these tests are just as dangerous as last year's?" It was the same way she'd won this argument every single time we'd had it the past few days. She knew how much I didn't want Patricia to be involved. But this time I wasn't backing down.

"I think they should at least have the choice to say no. They've done this before, they know the risks. We'll tell them what we've learned so far and they'll know the rules and be able to decide for themselves whether or not they want in. Fabian and Amber have already figured out something's going on, how much do you want to bet Patricia's not far behind them? And when they do find out – and they will – I don't want to have to explain why we kept it from them."

Nina sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. "I don't want anything to happen to them," she admitted.

I nodded. "I know. Me neither."

She frowned in concentration, scanning my face for sincerity. "OK."

"OK?" I checked, needing to know I'd heard her right.

"OK. We'll tell them what's happening. We make it explicitly clear they can walk away with no questions asked. And if they want to help… they're in."∞

"Eddie how could you not tell me about this?"

I looked up in surprise to see a very angry blonde glaring at me. "Nice to see you too Amber," I smiled. "What am I supposed to have done this time?"

She huffed and dropped herself down on the couch in between me and Patricia. "The aptitude tests? You're the headmaster's son, you're supposed to tell me when we're going to be getting things like this so I can study!"

"Amber, you do know that you can't study for aptitude tests, right?" Fabian cut in, looking confused.

Amber fixed a glare on him fierce enough that he quickly turned back to his conversation with Nina. "Amber, they're practice tests," I explained. "They're to give us an idea of the actual aptitude tests we'll be taking later this year to see if we qualify for the A levels or not. Those are the ones we'll need to study for. Besides, he didn't tell me. I couldn't have told you if I wanted to."

Amber heaved a sigh, looking frustrated. "Honestly Eddie, how are you supposed to be of any use to me?"

"He's not." Patricia assured her. "He's supposed to be of use to me."

Amber's expression instantly transformed from irritation to adoration. "Aww! Just look at you two acting all couple-y!"

My girlfriend scowled and rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Don't remind me, I almost don't recognize myself."

"So might we say I've, changed you for the better?" I swung an arm behind her and raised an eyebrow.

She scowled but leaned back so my arm was around her shoulders. "Changed me, yes. Whether or not it's for the better is still open to debate."

The activation of the loudspeaker stopped me from continuing our banter. "All seniors please report to their designated classroom for the practice exam. If you are not a senior and therefore not taking an exam, please return to your house. Thank you, and good luck."

Everyone gathered their things and left the student lounge, Anubis boarders heading to the French classroom. When we arrived we saw Alfie and Jerome suspiciously lurking near Mr. Duval's desk as Mara hid behind a book. "Good read Mara?" I called, grinning.

"If I don't see anyone doing anything, I can't be held accountable for failing to stop whatever it is someone may or may not be doing," she replied without coming out from behind her history textbook.

Jerome nodded sagely as he and Alfie finished up whatever it was they were doing. "Plausible deniability. Always an admirable trait in a girlfriend."

Joy walked in a few steps before Mr. Duval and sat next to me and Patricia. "I seriously do not understand the point to these. We have to take practice tests that won't be graded and that we won't get back to prepare for entrance tests that we won't even take for another seven months? It's stupid," she complained.

"Doesn't matter how stupid the system is. The teachers made it so we have to live with it," Patricia rolled her eyes and I couldn't help but smirk.

"You know, if you roll your eyes any harder they're going to fall out of your head," I pointed out helpfully.

She turned her head to scowl at me. "Must you always comment on everything I do?"

"Why yes I think I must," I grinned. "It's one of the perks of dating you. I get to throw my two cents in, on every thing you do."

"Even when it's irritating and makes me want to smack you with my textbook?" she pressed.

I nodded. " _Especially_ when it's irritating and makes you want to smack me with your textbook," I assured her. "And then the best part is instead of smacking me we go and make out for a while. Come on Yacker. This is basic boyfriend-girlfriend-ology I expect you to know this."

I grinned when Patricia stopped midway through an eye roll. "Stop smirking," she ordered, which of course only made me smirk harder.

I'm about ninety-six percent sure Patricia was **this** close to strangling me with my tie so it's probably a good thing Mr. Duval called for our attention when he did.

Truthfully speaking, tests have never been that stressful for me so since I didn't see the need to practice I mostly just focused on filling in the answer bubbles in different patterns. A, B, A, B, D, C, D, C… A, B, C, D, D, C, B, A… B, A, D, C… A, A, B, B, C, C, D, D. That and making sure to kick Patricia's chair every so often. There were probably only a handful of things that got her more riled up than my shoe going ta- _tink_! against her chair's leg, and, well, I've always liked pushing her buttons.

The test was mostly a boring blur of rules and procedures and Mr. Duval snapping at Alfie and Jerome to keep their eyes on their own papers. By far the most interesting part was where he opened his desk and a live frog leaped out of it. He shrieked in fright/shock and literally jumped backwards while the rest of us erupted into laughter. Predictable as always, he demanded to know who it was before coming just shy of accusing Nina, and then Jerome suggested it was probably a younger student. With no one admitting guilt and the test still going, Mr. Duval had no choice but to instruct us to keep writing as he carried the frog outside as carefully as one might carry a bomb, or dirty diaper, or some other UFO – uncared for object.

I had just finished filling in the bubbles to spell out 'NO!' if you read the test sideways when the door swung open. "Sorry to interrupt, Francis." My head jerked up in surprise. "Nina I need to see you in my office for a moment." I focused on breathing, trying to fight the familiar choking feeling that always rose up in my throat whenever I saw my… saw Eric.

Nina stood up, looking confused, and made to come over but he raised a hand. "You should bring your school things with you Nina, this may take awhile."

"You sure you don't want to take Joy as well while you're at it?" Patricia asked suspiciously. "Disappear 'em both at once?" I glanced over to see her glaring at… the headmaster.

He sighed in impatience as Nina walked past him. "Patricia, I need a word with Nina about her enrollment, and afterwards I am sending her back to Anubis House to think some things over. That is all."

Only looking slightly mollified, Patricia raised an eyebrow and turned back to her test, scowling. It made me frown. I didn't like seeing her this type of irritated. I slowly allowed a smirk to crawl over my face as I got an idea, before I swung my foot against her chair. Ta- _tink_! Her expression shifted from annoyance to disbelieving exasperation and I grinned. Mission accomplished.

We were almost finished with the math section when it happened. There was a tugging at the back of my head, and then in my mind's eye I saw the classroom door opening, hallways flew past me until I reached Eric's office and a mixture of shock, fear and indignation was swirling up in my chest, exploding out of my mouth in the form of "WHAT?"

I didn't even realize I'd shouted until the word reached my ears. I blinked a few times and tried to cover, looking up at Mr. Duval in pretend outrage. "WHAT, is up with this question?" I demanded, jabbing at a random one on the page. I glanced down to see which one I'd picked and nearly kicked myself. "Thirty-five divided by seven? This is insulting!"

Alfie cackled and Jerome whistled, calling, "You tell him Edison!" The rest of the house waited with bated breath to see how Mr. Duval would respond.

"Do try and keep the talking to a minimum won't you Mr. Miller?" Mr. Duval folded his arms, not looking amused in the slightest.

I nodded, more than a little relieved he seemed more frustrated than downright angry, and tried to turn back to the practice test but a pressure on my toes distracted me. I glanced down to see Patricia stepping on my foot and looked at her in confusion. 'What?' I mimed, raising my eyebrows.

'You OK?' she mouthed back, looking concerned.

I nodded, and Mr. Duval snapped at everyone to keep their eyes on their own tests so I turned my attention back to filling in the answer bubbles in the shape of a Christmas tree, trying to will the clock to spin faster as I wondered what my dad was talking about with Nina that could've got such a volatile reaction from her.

After finishing the most useless test we'll ever take and going back to the house a couple at a time, my girlfriend and I learned via Trudy that Nina had apparently returned half an hour before and had locked herself in her room.

"Should we be worried?" Patricia wondered aloud, carelessly letting her bag hit the ground in front of the couch as she walked over to the kitchen.

I shrugged, trying to play it off. "You worry. I'll be… tentatively troubled. Fleetingly flustered. Privately perturbed."

She rolled her eyes while filling up a cup with water. "Don't be a dork. Maybe we should check on her."

"Now Yacker I would have to be, deeply discombobulated to even _think_ , of checking on her." I both could've and probably would've come up with more alluring alliterations but Patricia lightly slapped me on the arm and said to knock it off. "No Patricia, I do not think we need to check on Nina," I deadpanned, keeping my face perfectly straight and letting my voice take on a slightly robotic tone. "She must come down eventually, otherwise studies show she will run the risk of death due to starvation."

"Why am I dating you?" Patricia threw up her hands in exasperation.

"You know you love it," I teased, before I snatched the glass of water she'd set down.

She tried to take it back but I kept myself turned so my back was to her and she couldn't reach it. "Eddie, give!" she demanded, sounding both frustrated and amused.

"Give what? You Brits need to work on your specificity," I retorted, continuing to hold it out of reach.

"You _know_ what. Give it back!"

Keeping the glass at arm's length I turned to face her grabbing fingers. "What will you give me for it?" I pretended to consider.

She scowled. "An ice pack for your black eye."

"I don't have a black eye," I pointed out before realizing where she was going.

"Oh don't worry I can fix that real quick," she assured me, still trying to snatch the water back.

I allowed myself to smirk at how cute Patricia got when she was irritated. "You could. But you won't."

"Don't be so sure," she threatened, folding her arms in annoyance as she stopped trying to reach it.

I grinned and took a step away, swallowing the water and setting the glass down. "There now was that so difficult?"

"You're an idiot," she scowled as I walked back over so I was in front of her.

"True," I acknowledged, stuffing my hands in my pockets.

"And annoying," she added.

"True."

"And I hate you."

"False," I grinned. "520%-could-not-be-more-wrong false."

Her eyebrows drew together in a glare. "Oh please what do you know?"

"I know that if you did hate me you wouldn't let me do this." Her expression started to get a bit confused but before she could get a word in I put my hands on both sides of her neck, threaded my fingers through her hair, pulled her into me and kissed her.

I had decided back when she first surprised me in her dorm room that I really liked kissing Patricia. Her lips were soft and always tasted like whatever chap-stick she was wearing, and for someone who claimed not to have any prior kissing experience she was pretty damn good at it.

I let the rest of my thoughts dissipate as my one of my hands transitioned down from her neck to rub gentle circles over her shoulder, while the other hand twirled its fingers into her hair. Patricia seemed to be of a similar mindset because she fisted her right hand in the front of my shirt, tugging me closer and ran the fingers of her other hand across the back of my neck as she leaned into me and arched backwards at the same time as she pulled me in closer, making heat race through my body and sending chills down my spine.

My mouth slanted against hers, nudging and urging her to do the same before moving from her mouth to trace a line of kisses along her jaw. She made a noise of pleasure that I was sure would be the death of me before I moved back to her lips as my hands stroked her cheek, her neck, her back, loving the feel of her. Her hands moved to wrap themselves tightly against my neck as I opened my mouth, sliding my tongue along her bottom lip and she jerked back.

Patricia snatched her hands away as though I'd suddenly burned her, shoved my hands off of her, spun around and started back towards the living room in the span of a few seconds. She had left me in a bit of a kissed drunk haze and I didn't even realize what was happening before she was grabbing her bag. I felt myself frown and jogged over, trying to stop her. "Hey, Yacker, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she snapped, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Then what's with the whole suddenly stopping and getting away from me thing?" I pointed out. Patricia refused to answer and I grabbed her wrist. "Patricia. Talk to me. What happened?"

"Why did something have to happen?" she glared at me, but it was more defensive than angry. "Why do you assume it's some personal issue? Maybe I just realized you forgot to brush your teeth this morning." She jerked her wrist out of my grasp and stormed upstairs, disappearing into the girl's hallway as Joy, Mara and Jerome got back.

I didn't hear much of what they said as I turned and slowly walked back in to the living room. I was used to Patricia going from zero to a hundred and back again in a few seconds, but this time it had nearly given me whiplash. I really couldn't say I was surprised though. My girlfriend had a habit of pushing me away.

"Eddie did you hear me?"

I looked up to see Mara staring at me expectantly. "Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you know if Nina's OK," she repeated.

I blinked slowly, still mostly with my thoughts. "Uh, no. She's been in her room since I got back."

Mara nodded and she may have asked another question but I wasn't listening, already swirled back up in my head. I'd had more than a few girlfriends before, and gone further with some than I cared to admit. With Patricia though, it was, different. Back then what I had done had been mostly messy kisses and fumbling fingers, planned with hushed whispers and made possible by open windows in the middle of the night, a sort of 'screw you' to the world that I'd been so angry with. The next day I'd barely even acknowledged the girls, leading to more than a few public confrontations. I didn't want anything like that with Patricia. If she would let me talk to her about it I could probably learn what _she_ wanted, but any time I tried to have a conversation about where we were heading she immediately shut me down. Any other girl and I would've had a better chance at figuring it out, but Patricia had always seemed to delight in tormenting me by being half transparent as glass and the other half as indecipherable as a Rubik's cube. The dangerously frustrating combination just made me want to figure her out even more, but the harder I tried the harder she resisted.

Nina didn't come down until after dinner, and she probably would've stayed in her room longer but I heard from Mara who heard it from Jerome who heard it from Alfie who heard it from the blonde herself that apparently Amber had threatened to kick the door in and drag her down if she didn't tell us what the problem was.

"I am dealing with it," Nina snapped, folding her arms, and I could tell she was frustrated by her lack of contractions.

"Yes. But you're upset and I don't like it and if I have to see my best friend sulking I'm going to be miserable and if I'm miserable Alfie's upset and if Alfie's upset Jerome's upset and if Jerome's upset Mara's upset and… I'm actually not sure who gets upset if Mara's upset." Amber paused in her rant and tilted her head, trying to see if she'd left someone out. I took advantage of the momentary silence to snatch a glance at Patricia who was sitting with Joy, but she had been refusing to so much as look at me ever since she'd stormed out earlier.

"What Amber's trying to say," Fabian spoke up, "Is that we just want to help."

Nina pressed her hands into her eyes and dropped down onto the couch before muttering something unintelligible. "What was that?" Alfie asked.

She raised her head to glare at him. "I said I am getting kicked out of school Alfie. Happy?"

I blinked once, hearing the words but not being able to make sense out of them. How was Nina getting kicked out of school? I wanted to ask her how and why, but my tongue seemed to be in shock. The others' complaints were significantly more vocalized. "Wait what?" Fabian asked, looking equal parts confused and upset. A chorus of protests from the rest of our housemates backed him up.

"They can't just kick you out can they?" Patricia looked confused. "I mean, you haven't done anything."

"I am on scholarship, remember?" Nina answered tightly. "And if I violate the scholarship then yeah, they can just kick me out. And apparently I did."

"How?" Fabian frowned.

"My scholarship is foreign language based, and it says I need to take a certain number of credits each year to be renewed. I guess it also says that I need to assist with teaching one of the younger classes by my last year. Problem is, if I drop any of my classes I will not get enough credits and if I do not drop a class I cannot help teach a younger grade. So I am screwed either way." Nina's voice had been rising in pitch as she talked to the point where she sounded slightly hysterical by the time she finished.

"Why didn't you just help with a class before this year?" Joy asked innocently.

I was extremely grateful looks couldn't kill at that point, because if they could then the glare Nina turned on Joy probably would've disintegrated the British girl on the spot. "Oh, gee, why didn't I think of that?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Because it wasn't on my scholarship before this year. But they switched over the summer and since I'm already on it Mr. Sweet expects me to adapt."

"Well how is that fair?" Alfie complained.

"It's not," Nina snapped. "And I don't expect it to be. He let slip that this was Victor's idea."

"What was my idea?" I gave a small jerk as our housemaster materialized in the doorway, his timing impeccable as always.

Nina's eyebrows rose and her mouth slightly opened the way it did when she started to panic and I quickly intervened. "It was your idea to use mandatory biweekly locker searches to make sure students don't have contraband. The other teachers shut you down though." I smiled confidently, even though I had no idea if what I had said was actually true or not.

Victor glared down his hooknose at me, one of his eyebrows raised suspiciously and I was reminded of a Professor Snape but without the noble intentions/tragic backstory. "I smell a rat. What are you miscreants up to?" he demanded.

"Don't know what you're taking about Victor," Alfie grinned cheekily. "Maybe you mean you smell a mouse, but I thought that infestation was all taken care of."

My inner Creep-o-Meter slowly ticked upwards as he scanned our faces, searching for signs of deceit. Ah Victor. Always so suspicious.

Whatever he was looking for, I guess he didn't find it because after a moment, still scowling, he turned and walked out of the room and everyone let out a collective breath.

"Come on Chosen One, what's the worst that can happen?"

It was five minutes to midnight, which was when the rest of Sibuna was supposed to meet us in the attic so we could explain everything, and Nina was freaking out. I was trying to convince her that now that we have the charm, the only nightmare they'll go through will be tonight's if any. She wasn't buying it.

"Maybe we should just call the whole thing off," she suggested, wringing her hands. "We can say it was a joke, or a prank, or we can just run back to our rooms and let them think it was Victor messing with them or something."

"OK, Nina? There is this wonderful little exercise I heard about that's supposed to be really good for calming down. It's called _breathing_. I want you to try it." She glared at me before sighing in exasperation. "Come on, try. Inhale. And, exhale. And inhale. And, exhale." I exaggerated my breathing, moving my hands back and forth as I did so but Nina didn't seem amused so I resorted to realist tactics. "OK, look. It's too late to call it off anyway. Worst case scenario: Victor finds out and shows up and somehow manages to ruin our school year. Best case scenario: Everyone shows up, Victor stays asleep in his vampire coffin, Sibuna gets back together and the world is saved. Or something."

Nina scoffed. " _Or something_ ," she muttered, ringing her hands.

I was about to try and calm her down again when footsteps creaked up the stairs and we both turned towards the door to see Amber, Patricia and Joy coming in. Nina dredged up a sorta-smile and offered a half-hearted wave, and we mostly stayed relatively silent until Alfie and Fabian showed up.

Without meaning to, the seven of us formed a sort of circle. From me and going left it was Nina, Fabian, Alfie, Amber, Joy and Patricia. Given how she'd started acting strange earlier, I was glad she'd chosen to sit next to me. There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence filling the attic, until Amber broke it by giving a delicate little cough. "So I don't know about the rest of you, but I got a Sibuna note in my locker telling me to come to the attic at midnight. Normally this implies someone has something to tell the rest of us, so if someone wants to just spit it out that'd be great."

Nina cleared her throat. "Right. Um, Eddie and I, left the notes for you guys."

Alfie clapped his hands excitedly. "I knew it! Joy you owe me five pounds." He might've said something else but Fabian not-so-subtly stepped on his foot, and I spoke while Alfie was busy glaring at him.

"Before anyone says anything else, there are a few things you guys should know." At this point I'd been standing for the past half an hour and my legs were killing me so I sat down on the floor, and the rest of them followed suit. I was secretly pleased, since it would've been extremely awkward if I were the only one sitting, but I had no intention of continuing to stand.

"This year, it's, it's different, than the last two," Nina fiddled with her locket as she stared at the floor, her voice coming out a bit strained. "Back then it was risky, but this time it's, it's torture, and I mean that literally. This person, if they're even a person, they're using, like, psychological warfare or something. Extremely effective, psychological warfare."

"Start from the beginning," Fabian advised, giving her arm a squeeze.

Nina nodded and took a breath. "The night before Eddie and I came back to England, I had a dream. And, in it, I got a book, and the person who gave it to me told me that, the dream watcher has gone rogue. And then when I woke up the next morning," she turned around and tugged it out of the bag she'd brought up with her. "The book was in my suitcase." She passed it around the circle and continued talking.

"And then first night back, Eddie and I had the same dream. Where this woman, um, kinda tried to kill me, by burying me alive. And then when I woke up, there was mud all over the bottom of my pajamas."

There were a few beats of silence as everyone absorbed this information and then Joy, ever the voice of logic piped up, "Couldn't you have just been sleepwalking?"

"We considered that," I jumped in. "But that's not it. We rigged the windows so we'd know if we climbed out those and took turns watching the front door. We also tried recording ourselves while we were asleep but the videos always just turned to snow."

"We don't know why, and we don't know how, but whatever this person makes happen to us in our dreams, some of it becomes reality by the time we wake up. Like this one night I nearly drowned, and then when I woke up me and my sheets were completely soaked," Nina still hadn't picked her eyes up off the floor, almost like she was afraid to look at the others. "For the first few weeks this is pretty much what happened every night. She'd come up with some new scenario to torture us with, we'd wake up right before we died, and some part of it crossed over with us. Eddie's still got some nasty burns from when she boiled him alive."

"You what?" Patricia's head snapped over to look at me, concern in her eyes. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," I assured her, and rolled up the sleeves of my bathrobe to show her the fading red splotches. "See? All better."

"Oh my God," murmured Joy as Patricia gently placed her fingers on the burn, before whipping them back to her side. "So is that it?" she asked.

Nina choked on a laugh. "Not even close." She explained how last week, the lady – who'd told us to call her Nepthys – had showed her how to charm the objects so we could control our dreams so that Lizard Lady couldn't fake kill us anymore, and how whenever we thought of her we were taken to this jail cell, with me jumping in to fill the blanks every so often.

"I didn't want to tell you guys because of how dangerous it got last year. And at least then we knew the rules. Now, we barely even know what's happening. We hardly even understand the basics, we don't even know what it is that we're trying to accomplish." Nina finally raised her eyes and looked around the circle. "But we're stuck. There's literally nothing in the room that points us to how to get out, and if we make the wrong choice then that's it, it's game over."

"We want it clear that if anyone doesn't want in, they don't have to be a part of this," I added. "They can stay out, no questions asked, no judgments made."

"What are you crazy?" demanded Amber. "These past few weeks I actually thought this might be a normal school year. It was terrifying. I'm in!"

"I'm in too," Fabian declared.

"Ditto." I looked over at Patricia as she announced her decision and about half of me was excited, but the other half was terrified. The same person who'd been torturing us could now go after her.

"If Amber's in I'm in," announced Alfie.

Six out of seven. We looked at Joy, waiting for her decision as she frowned, twisting her ponytail around her finger before sighing. "Oh screw it, I'm in."

Amber clapped her hands delightedly and raised her hand to her eye for the familiar Sibuna ritual. "Sibuna," everyone declared in response, copying the gesture.

"OK, hopefully you guys won't have any dreams come true tonight, but the sooner you're protected the better so tomorrow you need to decide on the object you want and bring it to me," Nina instructed, her voice partly ordering but mostly pleading. "Make sure it's something small and unnoticeable, but the most important thing is that it has to be something Victor can't reasonably confiscate."

"Wait is he involved in this?" Fabian asked. "You haven't really mentioned him."

I shrugged. "We don't know yet. It doesn't seem like it, but Nina said you've been wrong before. We figure better safe than sorry if he is."

They muttered in general agreement before Amber declared a need for beauty sleep and tugged Alfie back down with her. "I'll see you soon Nina," she whisper-called, before disappearing down the stairs. Patricia gave me a wave before following and it was all I could do to not chase after her. But whatever logic I had spoke up from the back of my head, and reminded me that whatever conversation we needed to have, midnight on a Wednesday with Victor down the hall and both of us exhausted was not the time to do it.

I saw Joy cast a longing glance at Fabian and Nina who were having an intense-looking conversation in hushed voices before she exited, and pretended to busy myself with flipping through the book while waiting for them to finish. I looked up just in time to see Fabian press a quick kiss to Nina's cheek and take his hands off her shoulders before following the rest, making us the only two left in the attic.

"So? We told them and the world didn't explode. You feeling OK?" Nina didn't move from her spot and for a second I thought she might not have heard the question, but then she shrugged.

"There's no turning back now is there?" she asked, turning around to face me.

I shook my head. "There never was."

Nina didn't respond and I shoved the book in the bag and handed it back to her. "Hey. Look at me." Her eyes gravitated upwards to lock onto mine as she swung the bag over her shoulder and I did my best to look confident. "They'll be fine. You need to relax." I pulled the bottle of sedatives out of my pocket, unscrewed the lid and tilted one into her palm. "Go to bed, Chosen One. You have that scheduling dilemma to figure out tomorrow."

She groaned. "Ugh. Don't remind me."

"Maybe it's a sign," I suggested. "While you try and get the scholarship thing fixed, the rest of us can worry about Nepthys and Lizard Lady." Her answer was a glare. "I'm just trying to look on the bright side," I defended myself.

"Bright side? You mean the bright side where I might get expelled _and_ I just possibly put my friends in mortal danger?" she clapped and scowled, throwing in a sarcastic, "Yay!" for good measure.

I raised an eyebrow and Nina sighed. "I'm scared for them," she admitted. "I'm scared for all of us."

"I am too," I assured her. "But they know the risks. They'll be careful. Now come on, we need to get to bed. I don't know about you, but I'm still making up for more than a few nights of lost sleep."

I was rewarded for my weak attempt at a joke with a tight smile, and she gave me a hug before we headed over to the door. The stairs gave a slight creak as we walked down them but Nina managed to shut the attic door soundlessly. "Good night Eddie," she whispered as we passed her room.

"Good night Chosen One," I whispered back as she slipped inside.

I tiptoed through the hallway and back down the stairs, my shoulders tense until I slipped into my room with a sigh. I turned, expecting to be greeted with the sight of Fabian sleeping and was surprised to see him on his computer. "I'm sure whatever you're looking up will be there in the morning," I assured him, kicking off my socks and pulling back the covers.

He barely glanced at me before returning to his typing. "It's just research," he said a few seconds later, still intently focused on the screen. "You can go to bed, I'll be done soon."

Part of me – the nosy part – was curious to know what he was up to, but it was quickly shouted down by the rest of my brain, the part only capable of two words: Sleep. Now. I fell backwards onto the mattress and folded the covers over me, barely having the energy to pop Trudy's "borrowed" sleeping pill in my mouth. It wasn't like I stole it. I just refilled her prescription without her knowing, totally different. The only crime I committed was forging her signature, and I didn't even forge it I just cut it out of a note I had her sign excusing my tardiness when I stayed home to hide my burns. (She thought I had a fever.)

I closed my eyes, letting the dull tapping of Fabian's keyboard lull me to sleep, making sure to keep my mind completely blank as I wrapped my hand around the shark tooth in my pocket.

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POV you'd like to see.**


	10. Update: 3 Week Hiatus

Hey y'all it's ProcrastinationMajor here.

So I'm heading to summer camp in about 20 minutes and it's a no wifi no cell service and 0 electronics area, so I'm going to be off the electronic grid until August 21 (maybe 20? I can't remember the exact date) so that's when CH. 9 goes up. The day after I get back from camp. It's almost done, it's in a new POV and you're going to find out some major information that'll hopefully clear up some stuff from the earlier chapters. ALSO, y'all are finally gonna find out who this "season's" big bad is! Thank you for being so patient with me, and if I had some reviews to come back to I would love that so review please, and I'll be back soon!

Peace

ProMaj


	11. Chapter 9: Victor

**Victor**

 **AN: Yeah I know nobody likes Victor and no, nobody requested him, but for narrative purposes I need a chapter in his POV. Sorry everyone, please don't bring out the pitchforks and torches. You'll want to save them for later trust me ;). See you at the end of the chapter.**

"I don't know how she managed it Victor, but she did. When we altered her scholarship we knew how resourceful she was, but agreed to try anyway. I simply don't see how you intend to get her out of the school, and for that matter you never told me the _why_ either."

Clasping my hands behind my back, I glared at Eric down the point of my hooknose. I rather liked my hooknose, I felt it gave me character. "The why is not important, Eric, what is important is that it failed. She is still at the school and is a constant thorn in my side."

"Goodness Victor, is _that_ why you wanted her expelled? Your irritation is hardly a cause for the termination of a young person's learning experience," Eric frowned, hands folded like so on top of his desk as always, looking at me sternly.

I waved his concerns away. "It doesn't matter. Eric you are one of three people, myself and my doctor being the other two, who know of the diagnosis I received. There has to be some way to cure it before it's too late, and that is what we need to be focusing on right now."

"Ah yes, about that." The headmaster slid his glasses onto his nose and started looking through some folders. "Are you sure you don't want me to call that lawyer for you? He did a fabulous job of my will and I'm sure he would be more than competent for – "

"Thank you for your consideration Eric, but the decision stands," I interrupted. I marched towards the door and stopped with my hand on the knob. "I must get back to my house and make sure the miscreants aren't attempting to reproduce in their bedrooms or wreaking other such havoc. I will call you if I need anything."

I left and shut the door firmly behind me, cutting off Eric's protests that his son and his housemates would be involved in no such thing. Hmph. As if he knew. I walked down the hallways slowly, my scowl fixed firmly in place and growing deeper. Eric was the headmaster, able to rule over his kingdom from afar. He didn't have to deal with the day-to-day issues of teenagers, their tears and their emotions and their heartbreaks and their constant, _ceaseless_ meddling. It was enough to drive any sane person mad.

I continued to brood on the difference between Eric's and my perspectives as I returned to Anubis, all the way across the grounds and up the stairs and into my office, where my thoughts were derailed by the new history teacher waiting for me. Or more accurately, the new history teacher standing in my office, back to the door, stroking Corbiere.

Folding my arms, I summoned my most intimidating demeanor. "What are you doing here?" I demanded, making sure to draw my eyebrows into a harsh 'V', just like how I'd practiced in the mirror over summer.

The teacher – I didn't remember or care about her name – gave Corbiere a final pat and turned to look at me, a serpentine smile on her face. "Why hello Victor. My name is Bess Abbott, I'm the new history teacher." She held out her hand. I didn't take it, and after a couple seconds the smile grew slightly more menacing and she slowly drew the hand back. "We have some things we should discuss."

I purposefully strode around my desk and sat in my chair. Ah. I loved this chair. An infinite number of sit-downs had molded the leather to perfectly fit my back and behind every time I relaxed into it. "Such as?" I built my fingers into a steeple and rested my chin on top of it.

Ms. Abbott rolled her shoulders into a shrug and inspected her nails. "Such as the aneurysm you were diagnosed with over the summer for starters."

Her simple answer rolled over me like a wave and I leaned backwards, momentarily at a loss for words. She took my silence as an invitation to continue speaking and added, "And how I can help you prepare for the afterlife."

"Prepare?" I scowled deeply as my tongue started working again. "If you knew the slightest thing about me you would know I do not wish to _prepare_. I wish to stop it." Unable to help myself, I gently pressed the tips of my fingers to the right side of my head, just behind the top of my ear, where a time bomb rested against my skull, ready to blow at any moment. I had mentioned headaches to my doctor in a routine checkup, and after a discussion he sent me in for an MRI. I had only told Eric of the results. Which reminded me. "How did you even know about my diagnosis?" I demanded. "I was of the opinion only my doctor, Eric and myself were aware."

That smile was back, so much wider than any smile should be. "Oh Victor," she crooned, plucking an imaginary thread off of her sweater. "There is very little we don't know."

I raised an eyebrow. "Who is this 'we' you speak of?" I prompted impatiently.

Bess perched on the desk and leaned forward as though confiding in me a secret. "You are not yet worthy of knowing." She looked entirely too pleased to inform me of this, as though she took pride in my supposed unworthiness. Maybe she did.

"Be that as it may," I countered, "I assume you are coming to me because there is something you need me for. I will not work with some faceless entity. I require a name."

A laugh bubbled out of her lips in delight and her smile stretched even wider, as though I were a dog who'd hopped up to stand on two legs. "Oh my, I forgot how deliciously innocent male arrogance can be." Raising both hands, one at a time, she cracked each individual knuckle before continuing, "We do not _need_ you Victor. My… silent partner and I, have seen fit to extend to you an offer of assistance. With your position, you could prove to be…" she eyed me up and down, seeming to search for the correct adjective that described what exactly it was that I could potentially prove to be. "Useful."

I didn't have to feign disinterest. "And what exactly would I get out of this?" I demanded. "A pat on the head and a gold star?"

Fast as a snake, her hand was behind my ear, her nails piercing my scalp and I stared at her in surprise. "The human brain is a wonderful thing Victor," she purred, "But it is not without its faults. Aneurysms are incurable. There is not a god or goddess or demon or spell out there that can save you from it. Not while you rot here behind a desk anyway. You cannot rid yourself of it. What you can do however, is prepare yourself for the afterlife." Her nails dug in even further and my eyes narrowed, but aside from that I forced myself not to flinch. "There is no possible way to save yourself from this fate, all you can hope to do is ready your eternal soul for the next phase of its sacred journey. You have not been a saint Victor, this is no secret. Neither is it a secret that the god of the dead does not look kindly upon those who misbehaved while here, especially those who tormented children. Ancient Egyptians looked quite highly upon children, as I'm sure you already know. And that's not even to start on your abuse of the elixir of eternal life."

Leaning back, Bess retracted her claws and looked at me expectantly, while I ignored my smarting head in favor of focusing on her slimy smile, almost expecting a forked tongue to slip out from between her teeth. "We can help you Victor," she whispered enticingly, her eyes speaking of promises beyond my wildest dreams. "My silent partner and I, we can ready you for that next step. My partner, she is most wise, I will willingly vouch for her. All you have to do, is help us help you. And ourselves of course. You see, my partner and I are searching for the Book of the Dead."

I choked out a laugh, unable to help it. "Impossible. You might as well ask me to help you synthesize a cure for all diseases. The Ancient Egyptians' Book of the Dead has been lost for centuries. Historians and scholars have all sought it, but none have ever found it. It is simply not possible. The Book has been lost to time."

Bess looked pleased, as though I'd done exactly as she'd expected and I regretted it instantly. Routine was one thing, but I was no fan of predictability. Especially when it was with people I barely knew. "Once maybe. But no longer." I lifted my eyebrows in surprise. Now here was an interesting development. At this point she frowned and I was immediately intrigued. It was the first time that unnaturally white smile had left her face. "My partner persuaded the former history teacher to take a sudden leave of absence, and I assumed his post because we believe a boarder here, Nina Martin, has come to posses the Book of the Dead."

I was simply thunderstruck. Nina Martin. The American orphan, the Chosen One, the ever present annoyance in my life. I simply could not fathom her possessing such a powerful artifact without my knowledge, and I told Bess so. "Impossible. Nina Martin may be the Chosen One, but not even she can work miracles. How could she have possibly come by it?"

Bess did not look pleased to have to explain this to me. "Come now Victor, had we known you were a fool I would have convinced my partner to look elsewhere for assistance. We came to you because you are Anubis housemaster, and thus in an extremely convenient position should we confirm Nina Martin does indeed have the Book, but if you're going to play the fool then we can make other arrangements. You are a true practitioner and you reek of the water of eternal life. You know as well as my partner and I that the gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt never left, that they do not walk among us but rather lurk in the backgrounds, in different planes of existence, keeping to themselves unless they require mortal assistance."

"And that is how the Chosen One and Osirian came to be, so that the gods and goddesses could have humans they could interact with in case they ever needed something done on Earth, I _do_ know how the story goes. But I do not see what this has to do with Nina Martin supposedly having the Book of the Dead." I had grown tiresome with what I sensed was about to be a lengthy lecture on a dozen tales I had grown up hearing, and decided to cut to the point.

"Nepthys gave it to her," Bess announced flatly, red lips curling into a sneer. "And please," she held up a hand, "Don't say impossible. While it may be unusual, it is not unheard of for a god or goddess other than Horus to contact the Chosen One, just as one other than Osiris may contact the protector." She sighed and her green eyes – green like snake venom – turned to steel. "Here is our proposition. You will help us determine whether or not Nina Martin does indeed possess the Book of the Dead. If she does, we will proceed to figure out a way to take it from her. I assure you Victor, you will be well rewarded for your cooperation."

 _Right, by preparing my soul for the next phase of its sacred journey_ , I thought sourly. Bess held out her hand. "Do we have a deal?"

I flared my nostrils impressively and answered her question with one of my own. "Must I answer right this moment? I would prefer some time to think it over."

Her smile grew tight and the hand sank back to her side for the second time during our meeting. "Very well. You have until eleven o'clock tomorrow night to confirm you are on our side. I will be in my office until six thirty at which point I will return to Isis, the history teachers' dorm. If I do not hear from you I will assume you have decided against assisting us, and other arrangements will be made. Rest assured you will be the last to hear of them." She smoothed out imaginary wrinkles in her top and exited my office, the ancient door shutting soundlessly behind her. I crept over to the window and watched as she purposefully marched down the stairs and out of the house, looking for all the world as though she were going to meet the Queen of England.

I scowled, my mood considerably fouler than it had been prior to the unscheduled interruption. Walking to the other side of my desk I lovingly smoothed my raven's dark feathers and sighed, searching for something to shake off the cloak of unpleasantness Bess had draped over me. "Well? What do you think Corbiere? Shall I go spy on the delinquents and see what chaos they are causing?" His eyes seemed to shine with affirmation and I took that as a yes. "Very well. I will see you soon Corbiere." Making sure to fix my scowl firmly in place, I quietly skulked out of my office, locking the door behind me.

The hoodlums were spread throughout Anubis, and it took me a mite longer than expected to find and check on all of them. Ms. Jaffray was assisting Ms. Millington with what appeared to be basic science, and I sighed deeply to myself. Time and time again, I failed to understand what brain cells Ms. Millington could possibly lack that made simple principals so impossible for her to understand. Ms. Mercer was complaining to Ms. Williamson, though I couldn't tell what about. I paused outside their bedroom door, straining my ears, but from what I could tell Ms. Mercer's cramps were unusually bad this month, and Ms. Williamson recommended hot pads. I couldn't fathom why Ms. Mercer had cramps every month, or why this month they might be particularly bad, but it didn't seem to be anything noteworthy and so I moved on. No one else was on the second floor, and so I proceeded down to the boys' section of the house, where Mr. Lewis, Mr. Clark, and Mr. Miller were comparing what sounded like different sections of the anatomy they liked, although I couldn't fathom what they did with them. Mr. Clark apparently preferred to travel down a neck and to the shoulders, Mr. Lewis liked Eskimo, butterfly, cheek and lips, while Mr. Miller was apparently stuck on lips but was sometimes allowed to try the ear or jaw or eyelids. The whole conversation was really quite baffling, especially when Mr. Clark seemed to sympathize with Mr. Miller's apparent plight. Mr. Lewis however, seemed to be perfectly content with his situation. I didn't fully understand any of it, and after deciding it was not some sort of code, decided to move on.

In search of Ms. Martin and Mr. Rutter, I abandoned my post at the door of the boys' dorm room and crept over to the common room. I paused at the doorframe, listening closely for conversation and when none was forthcoming I straightened my shoulders and walked soundlessly into the dining room. I saw the back of a head of dark hair on the couch and marched over, but Mr. Rutter appeared to be absorbed in his schoolwork and didn't notice me. I, however, noticed a teenage girl curled up like a cat on the couch, her head lying atop Mr. Rutter's lap, her curly hair acting as a pillow as she slept while he absently brushed it with his fingers. I nearly had a heart attack. These students just had no sense of personal space or decency whatsoever. Back in my day, girls and boys never sat within three feet of each other when alone and gods help you if an adult ever found you and your partner in the position Ms. Martin and Mr. Rutter were currently occupying.

I cleared my throat loudly and he immediately looked up, facial expression becoming comical when he saw me and I felt a rush of pride. I still had it. "Mr. Rutter exactly what is going on here?" He coughed uncomfortably and muttered something, cheeks turning red. "Speak up," I instructed.

"Nina fell asleep," he said loudly, looking as though his ears had caught fire.

"So wake her up then," I demanded. "This is completely indecent." He opened his mouth and then quickly closed it, looking unsure of himself. "Mr. Rutter is there a problem here?"

He opened and closed his mouth again before saying, "Well it's just that, she's sleeping."

I sighed in impatience and straightened my spine. "Ms. Martin! Wake up!" Her head shifted but other than that she was unresponsive and I scowled. " _Today_ , Mr. Rutter." He didn't look particularly thrilled about it, but he took her by the shoulder and gently shook her, making her eyes flutter open.

I raised an eyebrow as Ms. Martin sat up and rubbed her eyes, a shy smile coming onto her face as she mumbled a sleepy 'hi' to Mr. Rutter. "Hello Ms. Martin," I greeted her. Her head jerked around to look at me in surprise.

Her hand lifted, twitching into a slight greeting. "Heeeyyy…" she replied, nervously dragging the word out.

I continued to stare at the two of them impassively for a few seconds. "Ms. Martin, Mr. Rutter, need I remind you overt displays of physical affection have no place in this house? If you simply cannot contain your hormones I suggest taking them elsewhere." I didn't stay to watch the color flood their cheeks, rather I gave them an imperious nod before turning on my heel and striding back up the stairs and into my office.

I remained there for the rest of the day, only coming down twice. Once, to yell at Lewis and Clark for setting a tablecloth on fire. They claimed they'd just been trying to stimulate a hot air balloon, but I still gave them both a toothbrush and a knowing look. The second time was at 9:58pm, when I came downstairs and stood in the entryway until the clock chimed ten and I gave my usual speech, pin and all.

The rest of the time however, I remained holed up in my domain above the peasants, fondly stroking Corbiere as I pondered Bess' offer, turning it over and over in my head. I continued to sit there, stroking and thinking when the spot behind my ear suddenly flared up in pain and I felt a brief moment of panic. I continued to sit there throughout the night, and into the morning, until the clamor of students faded away as they left for school and the only noise was Trudy's quiet humming.

Late in the afternoon, I stood up, having reached my decision.

I silently exited the house, leaving the students to wreak whatever havoc they would before I returned, and strode over to Isis dorm, the sun just beginning its dip below the horizon, streaking the sky an ugly, bruised purple.

When I reached Isis, I knocked twice on the door, my knuckles sharply rapping against the wood. I waited a few seconds before knocking again. The world history teacher let me in and brought me to the living room where Bess and a male instructor were grading tests. I cleared my throat and Bess glanced up at me, at which point an abnormally wide smile stretched across her face. I waited as she set her work aside and lead me back out into the entryway, before turning and folding her arms expectantly. "Yes?" she purred, baring her teeth in a fiercely proud smile.

"About your offer," I began, before my throat closed up, suddenly dry. I cleared my throat, squared my shoulders and tried again, ignoring the prickling feeling at the back of my neck. "I've decided to accept."

 **AN: Hi everyone. Now I know nobody likes Victor but as I said earlier, for narrative purpose's I needed a chapter in his POV and later on, I will continue to need the occasional chapter in his POV to move the story forward. Sorry but that's just how it works. I do really struggle to write Victor though, so I'm open to any constructive criticism you have about my portrayal of his character. Thanks for waiting and as always:**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POV's you'd like to see.**


	12. Chapter 10: Patricia

**IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT: There's a question in the AN for you regarding content of future chapters. Please read all the way through. Thanks.**

 **Patricia**

I slammed my locker shut and leaned against it with a sigh of frustration. The hallways were filled with clomping footsteps and high-pitched chatter, the combined effect grating against my already frayed nerves. I edged my glance upwards in annoyance as a group of younger students shrieked excitedly, their voices stimulating what I imagined nails being driven into my skull might feel like. I didn't try to fight the scowl that settled onto my face as I saw Fabian over with Nina by her locker, the two of them curving into each other the way couples sometimes did. Ugh. Why did they have to be so _happy_? Fabian leaned in to give Nina a kiss and I turned away in disgust to see a flustered-looking Joy hurrying towards me, smoothing down her jacket. I turned towards her, grateful for the distraction. "What's up?"

Her eyes flitted back and forth before fixing on me, giving her a shifty appearance. "What? Nothing. Hey do you think you could get Eddie to do us a favor?"

My mouth twitched and I tightened my grip on my backpack. "Maybe. Depends on the favor. What'd you have in mind?"

Joy haphazardly raked her fingers through her hair, opening and closing her mouth before clearing her throat. "You know it's a really… small favor. Probably." I raised my eyebrows, waiting. She rubbed her arm and bit her cheek, and then the words poured out in a rush. "Iwanimtohelebrakinotheadmastsoffs."

I cocked my head and blinked. "Try again."

Joy blew out a quick breath through her mouth. "I want him to help me break into the headmaster's office."

I folded my arms. "Why do you need Eddie's help for that? We can do it."

"Well yeah but it'll be easier for him to get the key, which I need, because I asked and Sweetie never leaves the door unlocked. And not like once in a blue moon never, like, the school's computers coming alive and killing us all have a better chance of happening than him leaving the door unlocked never," she explained. I shifted my weight onto my other foot. I really wasn't in the mood to ask for help from Eddie at the moment. Or possibly ever again. My reluctance must have shown on my face because Joy made a helpless noise and clasped her hands together. "Come on, please Patricia? Pleeeeeeeeease? I'll never ask for anything ever again I promise."

I laughed. "Yes you will, and I'll… think about it." Lie.

She scowled. "Fine. _I'll_ ask him." I raised my hands in surrender as she turned to stomp off, and then realized I'd never even found out why she wanted to get in the office to begin with.

"What do you need to get in there for anyway?"

Joy halted mid-step, shifted her weight back and forth a few times, and turned around to face me. "Look it's nothing important OK? I showed up late to a couple too many classes and I need to adjust my attendance record is all."

I tilted my head and bit my lip, contemplating. "Why don't we just get Nina to pick the lock?"

Joy stared at me like I'd suggested she swallow acid. "Well my lack of masochistic tendencies would be a good place to start."

I rolled my eyes. "Joy come on, it'll be simple. We wait until he goes out, Nina picks the lock, you two go in, and I run interference in the hallway while you find what you need."

" _No_ ," Joy insisted, and I forced out an exhale.

"Joy, come on. Please don't bring Eddie into this."

Her eyebrows drew together and her arms unfolded, one hand grabbing the strap of her bag and the other hovering at her waist. "Why, what happened? You two have a fight or something?"

"We'll call it or something and leave it at that." I rubbed my neck uncertainly. "Look, if you ask him for help then he's going to wonder why I didn't ask him, then he'll ask me why I didn't ask him and then we'll have to talk about it and I'm really not so good with the talking thing, OK? Can we please just use Nina?"

Joy's mouth began to open in the beginnings of a protest, and she swung her head to look around the hall, her eyes landing on Nina and Fabian, who were currently pressed so close together you couldn't fit a magazine between them, their hands linked as Fabian whispered something into Nina's ear that sent her into peals of laughter.

I nervously trained my eyes on Joy, waiting to see what her reaction would be. She stayed fixated on the couple and I sighed internally as her hands clenched into fists. "You can't keep doing this to yourself Joy," I said quietly. For all the reaction I got I might've thought she didn't even hear me, but I kept going. "It'll destroy you if you let it. I don't care how you do it but you need to figure out a way to move on."

Her gaze snapped back to me, anger and hurt plain on her face. "What you think it's that simple?" She hissed. "That I can just flip a switch and my feelings for him will just dissolve? Because I can't, OK? I can't just turn it off, I loved him and that doesn't go away overnight."

"Do you even want it to go away?" I demanded. "I am sorry that all this has happened the way that it did Joy, but right now you are in the exact same position you were last year, and when he breaks your heart again, because he _will_ , I'm going to be the one who has to put the pieces back together."

Joy glared at me, her entire short stature seeming to grow rigid. "And what, pray tell, does Patricia Williamson know about dealing with a broken heart?" She steppe closer. "We both know you're too scared to let anyone get close enough to have even half a chance of cracking yours. Is that what happened with Eddie? Huh? He get too close for comfort?"

The floor seemed to shift underneath me. No. Joy wouldn't use that against me. Not that. She _wouldn't_. But as I looked at Joy her face remained set in defiance and I knew that she had meant it exactly as it sounded.

My face was stone as I glared back at her. "You know what Joy? Ask him. Do whatever you want, I don't care. Just don't come to me for help." I shoved away from the locker with a good deal more force than was strictly necessary and my feet wobbled in my combat boots a little as I marched away, tuning out the sounds of hallway noise. There was a prickling feeling rising up in my throat and a burning in the back of my eyes. I nearly threw myself against the doors at the end of the hallway, doing my best to block out Joy's question and not let the tears start. _Don't think about it. Breathe through your nose. Don't blink. Focus on your footsteps. Inhale. Exhale. Don't think about it._ I concentrated on the sounds of my feet against the street as the bell rang, signaling we had five minutes to get to class. I ignored it, willing myself to keep it together.

I managed to keep the tears from falling all the way back to Anubis, but by the time I made it I felt like someone was pulling a wire tight around my lungs. My breaths would only come in short spasms and my vision was blurred. I slid inside the house and through the coatroom, trusting muscle memory to lead me up the stairs since I couldn't see where I was going. My hand was shaking as I opened the door to the girls' hallway. I was almost there. My legs were trembling slightly as they carried me the last few steps to my door. I sagged against it, my hand twisted the knob and I tripped inside.

My bag fell from my fingers as I finally, _finally_ collapsed on to my bed and buried my face in my pillow. Now that I'd made it though, the tears didn't come and I wondered if I'd held them in for so long that I didn't know how to cry anymore. Really this was an unfortunate time for it to be happening given that my eyes were burning so badly it felt like Joy had rammed matches in to them to go with the verbal knife she'd shoved in my gut.

I'm not sure how long I lay there, feeling my eyelashes brush against the pillow every time I blinked before my eyes started to calm down. When they'd finally stopped feeling like the inside of a curling iron, I squeezed them shut and buried my head even farther into my pillow, trying to will the world out of existence.

Someone knocked on my door. "Yacker?"

Damn it.

Eddie knocked again. "Hey you decent?" Pause. "Well I'm coming in so if you're not decent now is probably a good time to say something." I didn't react as the door swung open, hoping he'd think I was asleep and go away. "What, I'm supposed to think you're sleeping, is that it?" I didn't move. "Well maybe that would work, but see I know you're not sleeping. How do I know? Because I remember when my dad took us to see that opera right before finals last year; you fell asleep on my shoulder and you drooled. And you're not drooling now so therefore you're not asleep.

"I don't drool." My voice was a bit muffled by the pillow but I'm pretty sure he got the gist of it.

"You do so," he insisted. "And you're clearly not asleep so case closed."

"Yes I am."

"Are not."

"Are so."

"That's an awful lot of talking you're doing for a sleeping person."

"I know right? The doctors say I might have a disease. Joy's thinking of getting me studied." I could feel my lips pulling into a smile and dug my nails into my wrists to try and fight it.

"Well seeing as you're already talking, what are the odds you sit up so I can have a conversation with my girlfriend instead of the back of her head?" My smile instantly died and I didn't answer. "Really? This is how we're going to play this?" There was a sigh when I again said nothing. "Alright. Well, don't say I didn't warn you."

I frowned as the mattress shifted from the addition of his weight onto the bed. What was he doing? I was considering peeking out from behind my pillow when I felt his fingers ghost over my neck and stiffened. The skin where his fingers had just been suddenly became hypersensitive, as though my entire nervous system had centered to that one area.

Gently, so, so gently, he urged the collar of my shirt away from my neck, and then his fingers were replaced with his lips. I pressed the pillow even farther into my face, fighting back a moan as he pressed soft, quick kisses along the back of my neck, turning me to fire everywhere he touched. While his mouth was busy on my neck his hand trailed down my back to where shirt met skin and suddenly I couldn't breathe.

I could feel his fingers skating lightly over my waistband as his mouth danced over to the hollow of my neck not covered by pillow and my hands contracted into fists. Part of my brain started yelling at me to make him stop, to not let him do these things, get this close, but I ignored it. A bigger part of me, a part that didn't seem to be coming from my brain at all but some place entirely different, wanted to see where this would go.

The pads of his fingers dipped beneath my shirt, tracing a pattern on my back and I shifted underneath him, I couldn't help it, my entire body felt hot like I'd never felt hot before. It wasn't a 'too much sun and now I'm burned and suffering hot', or an 'I've been sitting in front of the radiator for ages' hot, or an 'I accidentally touched Trudy's iron while it was hot' hot. As his fingers shifted from my back to the curve of my hip I thought deliriously that this hot, _this_ hot was a fiery heat that sizzled everywhere he touched, a heat that seemed to have hijacked my brain and was making me think deliciously dirty thoughts, like how his mouth would feel not just on my neck, but my breasts, or how his fingers would feel if they moved lower and more center. "Eddie," I gasped into my pillow, struggling to form a coherent train of thought.

He withdrew his hand from underneath my shirt and I bit back a sound of protest at the sudden cold that replaced him. His fingers now drifted down my leg and I waited impatiently to see what he would do next, wondering why his fingers halted as he reached the underside of my knee and his mouth left my neck, leaving me aching for more. Then his fingers started moving again and my eyes shot open and my leg kicked out. I yelped, unable to help it and jerked my leg away as I sat up and turned to glare at him, finding him smirking at me with raised eyebrows. He could not possibly look smugger, I thought savagely. "Problem Yacker?"

I scowled, fighting to calm my racing heart. "Did you just _tickle_ me?" I demanded, cursing my inability to catch my breath.

He shrugged, his face shifting into an expression of innocent bewilderment, save for the grin tugging at his mouth. "Who, me?" I narrowed my eyes and he laughed. "I did warn you." I crossed my arms, which only seemed to further amuse him. "What? Were you maybe expecting me to do something else?" I simply continued to glare at him as he pushed himself over on the bed so that he was sitting dangerously close. He leaned forward so that his breath tickled my ear. "Like maybe, finish what I started?"

My toes involuntarily curled and I focused on my breathing. "Because I could finish it if you want me to." My mouth fell open a little and I struggled to inhale as his right hand moved to my waist again and I was suddenly very glad he couldn't see my face. "All you have to do is ask nicely."

Oh, no, no way. Not happening. "As _if_ ," I snapped, unfolding my arms and ignoring the tingling in my fingers to shove him away.

He bounced back, laughing again, and we settled into our own bubbles of personal space as he raised his hands in surrender. "Fine then. Have it your way. Let's discuss why you skipped the last two periods."

"Let's not," I deadpanned.

He tilted his head, squinting at me. "Hmm. Closed off. Irritated and not with me. Nina's the one who told me she saw you leaving when I asked, so it's not her. Amber and Alfie you'd just let it go. Fabian, bless his soul, is about as irritating as a dust bunny in the desert and I know for a fact that Mara and Jerome were making out in the janitor's closet when it happened, which leaves Joy." I raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. "Joy's the one you had a fight with."

My jaw dropped and my eyes narrowed as I snapped it shut. "How could you _possibly_ know that?"

Eddie frowned in mock confusion. "Umm, deductive reasoning? Did I not just talk you through my thought process? Because we can do it again if I went too fast for you. My train of thought does tend to travel a good deal quicker than–"

"Yes," I interrupted, mostly to shut him up. "I had a fight with Joy. So what?"

"So, it was a big enough deal that it sent you storming out of the school faster than Alfie goes running when he hears Victor say 'Lewis!'."

A small laugh burst out of me before I could stop it and I sighed, refolding my arms. "It's nothing."

"If it's important to you it's important to me. And it's honestly not even worth your breath to try and convince me it's not important to you so how about you just save us both a few lines of banter and tell me what happened."

I looked away, scoffing weakly, before turning back to him. "It's honestly not that big a deal."

A Cheshire Cat grin stretched across his face. "If you intend to keep running with this line of argument I could always," he leaned forward, " _Persuade_ you, again."

I narrowed my eyes and made to kick him but he caught my foot and began taking my shoe off. "Hey!" I protested, and he looked up to me from my shoe with completely serious eyes.

"The story or the shoe Yacker. I mean it."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I'm dating a four year old, I swear."

He wrinkled his nose. "Fancy that, I've got an older woman. Who's also British. Very classy. Like dating Mary Poppins. If Mary Poppins drooled in her sleep."

" _I don't drool_."

"Liar," came his easy reply.

I made a show of sighing dramatically before he gently, but firmly, grabbed me by the wrist. "You know Patricia, one of the things that helps a relationship work is this handy little thing called 'good communication'. I would know, seeing as how all of my failed relationships had none of it."

My eyebrows rose. "Really? Because you have so many failed relationships to look at." He shrugged and my mouth went a little dry. "How many others?"

He scratched his head. "Well actually I don't know if you could really call them 'relationships', per say, more like female acquaintances with benefits."

I blinked a couple times, trying not to show how thrown I'd suddenly become. "How many?" I tried to sound curious.

He puffed up his cheeks and blew out a long stream of air, twisting his hand back and forth. "Two or three. Or six. But, definitely no more than fourteen. I think."

I felt like someone had kicked me in the chest. "Fourteen." I echoed. My voice sounded funny.

Eddie shrugged, nonchalantly. "Give or take. Am I the only one who realizes we're getting off topic?"

"You said they had benefits." I ignored his attempt to get the conversation back on track. "What kinds of benefits?"

He shrugged again, and this time it looked more than a little uncomfortable. "Does it really matter?"

"Yes," I insisted. He scowled at my blankets. "What? Don't want to tell me?"

"I don't want you to get upset," he shot back.

"You don't know I'll get upset," I retorted. "What kinds of benefits?"

He brought his eyes up to mine and I almost took the question back. I almost didn't want to know. "The kind that involved getting naked together."

My brain seemed to stop working. "You mean like sex." My voice sounded wrong. Off. He nodded, holding my gaze. "So you've, you know, you've…" my voice trailed off and I wanted to scream.

"Yeah I have." He kept looking at me, gauging my reaction.

"Oh. OK then." The back of my throat felt uncomfortably dry. "With all fourteen of them?"

He waved away my question. "It doesn't matter. It never meant anything."

 _It matters_ , I wanted to say, but I didn't. "How would you feel if I'd slept with fourteen other guys?"

Eddie shrugged. "Stunned frankly, you don't seem like the type."

"That's not the point," I snapped, feeling nettled. "Why are you just now telling me this?"

"Well when should I have said something then? I mean it's not exactly the sort of thing that just comes up in an every day conversation," demanded Eddie. He plastered on an overly bright smile. "'Hey Patricia, so I was thinking we could both make a list of our past sexual partners and give them to each other, just for the hell of it, what do you think? Come on, it'll totes be funsies.' Is that what I should've done?"

"Maybe." I could feel my anger rising in my chest, hot and volatile and poisonous. "How would I know how you're supposed to bring it up? I'm not the one with fourteen failed relationships. Sorry, 'female acquaintances with benefits'," I mimicked his earlier saying, my voice bitter.

Eddie scowled. "You see? This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you, I _knew_ you'd overreact."

I fought an urge to smack him. "Right of course, because I'm just overreacting. Not at all like my anger could possibly be justified, not when us girls are constantly falling prey to the weakness that is our feminine emotions, right? You're so stupid."

"Fine," said Eddie, tightly. "Fine since I'm obviously too stupid to figure out why I should've told you about this, even though _it never meant anything_ , tell me how to make you not hate my guts for this. Tell me what I have to do."

"Well how about you build a time machine and travel back a few months, and then you can tell me about the fourteen other girls at some point before this one. That would be a good start. But for now you can just go away."

"Don't." He set his hand on top of mine and I tried to pull away but he grabbed on and didn't let go. "Don't do that, don't shove me away. You can't keep closing yourself off."

"Why not? After all, as this lovely little conversation so wonderfully demonstrates, it's not like you haven't kept things from me." I felt like I was a little girl again, holding my mother while she cried. _"Boys will break your heart," she whispered, clasping my face tightly in her hands, forcing me to stare into her eyes that were shining with tears. "Don't ever trust them."_

"Not on purpose. Patricia, come on. Talk to me. You have to talk to me." His voice was still filled with frustration but now there was an undercurrent of urgency that hadn't been there before.

"I don't _have_ to do anything," I glared at him, daring him to try and force me into it.

"You're right. You don't. But I'm asking you to talk to me anyway, because you're my girlfriend and that's what girlfriends do when they're mad at their boyfriends. They tell the boyfriend why they're mad so the boyfriend can grovel and try to fix it. Let me fix it."

I stared at him, my breathing shallow and realized that although he was still holding my hand, I was gripping his back just as tightly. The words were out of my mouth before I even had time to decide whether or not it was a good idea. "There wouldn't be a list." Eddie blinked and his face shifted from anger to mostly anger but part confusion, and I knew that he had no idea what I was talking about. "When you asked how you should've brought it up, if we should've just made lists of everyone we've ever slept with." I looked away from him, pulling my eyes to the left where I focused them on Mara's books. "Your list would be fourteen girls. I wouldn't have one. There wouldn't be any names to put on it."

I saw his eyes widen slightly in the corner of my vision. "Patricia–"

There was the sound of something crashing down the hall and I flinched instinctively, pulling my hand out of his before I could help it. I glanced at him, to confirm I wasn't going crazy. "You heard that right?"

He nodded and I slid off the bed and moved towards the door, hearing Eddie follow me. I eased the door open and looked both ways as we slipped into the hall. I knew that even if we didn't shut our doors before leaving for school each morning, Trudy closed them while she was cleaning and so the sight of Nina and Amber's bedroom door gaping wide immediately told me something was wrong. "Maybe Trudy accidentally knocked something over," Eddie whispered. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"If you're so sure it's nothing then why are you whispering," I asked back just as quietly. Eddie scowled and jerked his chin for me to continue down the hallway.

I couldn't help but hold my breath as we crept forward, grateful beyond words that the floorboards were choosing not to squeak today. We reached the door and I peered through it, trying to get a good angle. When I saw what was happening I had to bite my tongue to keep from gasping and snatched at Eddie's arm, turning to face him. ' _What?_ ' he mouthed. I fisted my hands in the shoulder of his jacket and gently tugged him towards me, bringing my mouth as close as possible to his ear. "Victor's searching the place," I breathed. I was so close to him that I could feel his breath hitch, feel the heat of his body in all the places it pressed against mine.

His head shifted and now his lips were pressed against my ear. "What do we do?"

My hand tightened once on his shoulder and I pulled back to grin at him, before raising my voice. "I'm telling you Eddie it's probably nothing." I made my voice loud and clear, reaching out as I spoke to shove the door open even wider and step inside, pulling my boyfriend with me. As we entered the room Victor gave a – very satisfying – jump of shock, turning towards the door, dropping the shoebox Nina kept hidden under her bed. I feigned surprise. "Victor! What are you doing here?" I blinked innocent eyes at him, doing my best to look puzzled and not indignant. A grown man had no right to be going through a teenage girl's belongings. Especially not one who should've died of old age decades ago.

"What am I doing here? What are you two doing here? You're supposed to be in class!" Victor drew himself up and scowled down his hooked nose at us and I gave him my best attempt at a charming, 'I really hate to be an inconvenience smile'.

"Don't be mad at Eddie, Victor, he was just helping me. It's that time of the month you see, and I got really bad cramps and just couldn't make it through class so Eddie volunteered to take me back to rest. When we heard the crash Eddie thought it might be robbers or something." I could feel Eddie staring at me, and did my best to subtly step on his foot, silently urging him to look as though this story was not new to him.

Victor, meanwhile, now looked extremely uncomfortable, as most men did when being confronted with the biological realities of a teenage girl. "Oh. Well then. You had to – I mean, you got – that is to say—"

"Yes, that's what we're doing here Victor. Now how about you tell us why you're going through Nina's things?" Eddie cut him off. I could tell he was doing his best to keep his tone light, but there was a hard edge to it. "Instituting a weekly contraband search are you? Checking for alcohol in the nightstand and heroin in our underwear drawers?"

Victor scowled and I met his gaze evenly. We hadn't been doing anything wrong. He, meanwhile, had been caught red-handed going through a student's belongings without probable cause. "If you _must_ know," Victor began, putting on a much aggrieved tone. "One of you miscreants stole my… pin."

My eyebrows shot so high up my head I wondered if they'd disappeared into my hair completely. "Your pin?"

He gave a jerk of a nod. "Yes. I was taking it out to polish and realized it was missing. Since I never misplace anything, it seemed the only fitting confusion was that one of you miscreants had stolen it, doubtless as part of some practical tomfoolery. I was searching for it."

"Right, because just getting a new one would be _such_ an inconvenience. Much easier to search four bedrooms from top to bottom for something roughly the size of a toothpick." I could almost feel the sarcasm dripping off Eddie's remark.

Victor scowled. "I don't have to explain my actions to children. Now both of you run along."

I pointed. "But you found your pin, so I'm guessing you'll be coming with us since you obviously don't need to search anymore."

He glanced down and realized his pin was indeed still stuck in his jacket and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Victor was so far off his game it was almost disturbing. "Ah yes, of course. Of course! Very well then. Lead the way please."

I stepped back to clear the doorway, and brought Eddie with me. "Oh no, after you," I smiled, my voice packed with enough false sweetness to give me a cavity.

Victor confidently straightened his jacket and strode out of the room. I cast a half despairing, half outraged look at the absolute mess he'd left behind, and exited on Eddie's heels, shutting the door behind us. "Oh and Victor?" I called after him, for he was already halfway down the hall. How did someone so old move so fast? "I'm going to try and sleep the pains off, so please keep the volume down."

Victor raised his hand and gestured something that I could only assume was an annoyed confirmation. He turned the corner and I exhaled in relief, finding that I could suddenly breathe easier again. I turned to Eddie, about to ask what he thought Victor had been searching for, and found him staring at me. There wasn't really a word for his gaze; it was as though I'd suddenly transformed into his own personal miracle. "What?" I demanded. "Is there something on my face?"

Eddie broke into a grin. "You've got cramps because it's that time of the month?" He shook his head, shoulders shaking. "I think you've been spending a tad too much time with Amber, Yacker."

I rolled my eyes. "What like you've never lied through your teeth before?" I teased.

"Oh all the time, I just don't think I've ever managed to make it so entertaining for the bystanders."

I was about to reply but his hands suddenly cupped my face and he kissed me, quick and hard, pulling away before I had time to kiss him back. The grin stayed on his face as he gently brushed my cheekbones with his thumbs. "Only you," he said, but I got the feeling he didn't mean it as an insult. "Only you."

 **AN: *peeks nervously out from behind fortress* I know. I know! I'm a terrible person! I haven't updated this story in forever, and I feel awful, I do. I'd normally give an, "in my defense" spheel right about now, but I don't really have a defense, I just hadn't really been feeling inspired in a while. But I'm really sorry everyone, and I'd like to promise it'll never happen again, but as established by** ** _this_** **lengthy little break I'm a horrible person, so I can't guarantee a lack of long waiting periods. But I** ** _can_** **guarantee, that if you read and review it, it might make me want to write more. Yes this is blatant blackmail/begging. I'll update anyway, but reviews will help keep the story in my head.**

 **About that IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT thing: so I know we all saw things get a little steamy in this chapter during Peddie's make out scene. I have plans for all the romance arcs, but I would like to get some readers opinions on how comfortable they would be reading sex scenes, and if so how graphic. I don't intend to change the story to an M-rating – I'm not giving you straight up erotica or anything for Christ's sake – but I do plan on having sex so I'd like to know if I'd need to make it very vague, or separate chapters or what. Send your response in review form please, thanks.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you so much for not forgetting about my story and still being around to** ** _read_** **this chapter, and please, please,** ** _pleeeeeease_** **, answer the sex question because I was being entirely serious. Thanks.**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POV's you'd like to see. (I promise, I will get to them eventually.)**


	13. Chapter 11: Fabian

**Fabian**

Most people I knew had a preferred place of study. Somewhere they went when they needed to get away from distractions and buckle down to finish that huge project or study for that test tomorrow. I had always been partial to the library. Whenever anyone else bothered to come in they tended to sit on the edges of the room in hopes that the librarian wouldn't hear them whispering, or else see whatever dirty magazine they were hiding inside a book. I gravitated towards the middle of the room, knowing it would immediately get me labeled as someone actually there to work and therefore not to be bothered. Almost no one talked to me while I was there, so it worked exceedingly well as a study spot.

At least it had until today.

There was supposed to be a calculus quiz right now, and in an attempt to stall, Jerome and Alfie – in all their _endless_ wisdom – had rigged the school's loudspeaker to play a different song every two minutes, and all classes had been put on hold until they could get it fixed. It was mostly a mix of show tunes and line dancing songs, but every so often we'd get an outlier – the last one for example, had been a song Nina said was called 'La Cucharacha'. Most students would have gone back to their houses by now but Sweetie was on a witch-hunt for whoever had engineered the whole thing and forbidden anyone from leaving, so the school had scattered itself across campus. Nina and I had taken refuge in the library; she was reading a book on Egyptian dream myths and I was trying to review for calculus, but the background music made it rather difficult.

"I'm going to murder them," I declared in a low voice, knowing she would know whom I was talking about.

Nina's lips twitched upwards. "I take it you're not a fan of the Macarena," she said in response, referring to the song currently playing.

"I don't really have an opinion on the Macarena one way or the other, but the rest of the day has been completely thrown out of order. They'll probably have to shorten all the classes and we'll still be taking the Calc quiz tomorrow, so all they've done is give us more to worry about tonight. I swear they never _think_." I looked up to see Nina looking at me with a small smile on her face. "What?"

She shook her head and went back to her book. "Nothing."

I nudged her with my elbow. "Come on, what is it?"

Nina sucked her lips in, clearly trying to hide another smile, and looked up at me, eyes twinkling. "You're cute when you're being geeky."

My cheeks warmed and she giggled, before going back to her book. I gave a slight cough before turning back to my calculus notes, ignoring the 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' remix that had just started playing. I let the calming logic of math wrap around me, tuning out everything else but SOHCAHTOA, and quadratic equations. I had done such a good job that when something lightly bumped my foot I almost didn't feel it.

I glanced up at Nina in confusion, but she appeared to be studiously reading and I assumed I'd imagined it. I went back to my notes; only a few seconds later, something traced its way along my ankle and up my leg before it drew back and my breathing stilled. I subtly glanced over at Nina again, only to see that she was still determinedly looking at her book, trying not to smile. I looked back down and pretended to focus on my notes, simultaneously shifting my foot forward to run it along the underside of Nina's shoe. I had just drawn back when she defiantly bumped her foot against mine again, tangling our feet together.

My lips were shaking with the effort of keeping a straight face and I focused on sliding my foot around to the back of her leg and running it up so that the tip of my toes just barely knocked the underside of her knee and I could feel her leg trembling slightly even through my shoe. Her shoe came to rest lightly on top of mine and she gently rubbed back and forth, making my pulse go considerably faster than it was already going.

I was just beginning to ponder whether or not I would have a heart attack and die right here when her cell phone rang. Nina huffed quietly and quickly pulled the phone out of her bag, looking around to make sure the librarian hadn't heard as she flipped it open and held it to her ear. "Hello?" A pause followed and I used it to nudge her foot a few times, feather light at first, each time slightly harder than the last. "Hey Patricia, what's up?" I was more than a little pleased to hear her voice sounded a bit higher than normal.

Whatever pleasurable feelings I may've had suddenly vanished as Nina sat up straight, pulling her feet away from mine and shutting her book with the hand not holding her phone. "What are you talking about?" Her tone had become dead serious with a hint of panic and I looked up in concern as she started fiddling with her locket. "Just now?" Another pause. "Well did he take anything?" It was more than a little difficult to try and figure out what she was talking about since I could only hear half the conversation, and I desperately wanted to ask what was going on. "Well did he at least say what he was looking for?" The answer must not have been one to her liking because she sighed and tugged at her hair. "I can't. You-Know-Who screwed up the loudspeaker and they've got the whole building on lockdown until they can fix it and find out who." After a few seconds she held the phone up, probably so that Patricia could hear the 'She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain' rap Jerome had done last year currently blasting out of the speakers overhead. "If it goes on for much longer they'll probably send us back to our houses. Can you guys keep him out until then?" The tension in her forehead relaxed and Nina blew out a breath. "OK, thanks. I owe you one. See you later."

Nina flipped the phone shut and placed her head in her hands with a sigh, shoulders rigid. "Nina what happened?" I asked.

She held the position for another two seconds before lowering her arms to fold them on top of the desk. "Patricia and Eddie caught Victor going through my things." She sounded equal parts angry and resigned. I, however, fell entirely into the former category.

"Are you kidding me? Where does he get the right to do that?" I demanded.

"Probably somewhere in his handbook of 'How To Be a Housemaster from Hell For Dummies'," she snapped. "He didn't even say what he was looking for, said one of us stole his pin or something." Nina glanced around and tugged her bag so that it was facing us both, lifting one side up a bit so that I had an unobstructed view of the thick book inside. "What if he was looking for this?" The question came out so quietly it was more of a breath that happened to have words in it, and she quickly closed the bag again and slid the book she'd been reading in front of it.

I placed my hand on top of hers, wishing Patricia and Eddie had been able to find out what he'd wanted. "How could he possibly know about it? Besides Victor's normally less obvious about things like that. He was probably just… doing something else."

The crease in her forehead remained but she laughed. "How very specific," she teased.

"Yes I do pride myself on my specificity," I grinned and linked our fingers together. "Victor's always pulling crazy stunts like this. Don't worry about it until you have to, alright? You've got enough to worry about as it is."

Nina smiled and squeezed my hand. I didn't even realize I was leaning in or that she was too until we were close enough that I could count her eyelashes if I wanted to. Her lips, her beautiful lips were right there and I was so close to kissing her and –

" _There_ you are."

Nina and I jumped apart, turning to see Joy leaning against a bookshelf. "Sweetie says to go back to our houses, classes are cancelled until they can get this fixed. The housemasters are going to figure out if it was one of their students."

"Thanks Joy." Nina smiled a little too widely to be genuine, and her hand was squeezing mine so hard it was starting to hurt. "Anything else?"

Joy shrugged. "Nope."

"So you're just standing there because you feel like it."

Joy smiled tightly and turned, heading over to the exit. Nina relaxed her death grip on me with a sigh and I glanced down to make sure my hand still had circulation. "You know, you could try and be a _little_ nicer to her," I suggested.

Nina turned from glaring at the back of Joy's head to glaring at me and I winced inwardly. "Fabian."

"Yes?"

"Try not to be such a good person. It's irritating."

She withdrew her hand from mine, grabbed her bag and headed over to the library doors, leaving me to pack up my stuff as quickly as possible and try to catch up.

* * *

The entirety of Anubis house sat in the living room as Victor paced in a circle in front of us. I was squeezed on to the couch with Nina, Amber and Eddie. Patricia sat with her arms crossed on one of the chairs while Joy perched on the arm of it, and Jerome, Alfie and Mara sat on the couch across from us. Jerome had his hands clasped behind his head and one leg resting on the other, looking entirely too relaxed, while Alfie's leg bounced up and down and he did his best not to look Victor in the eye.

This had been going on for roughly the past ten minutes. Making us stew in our own potential guilt had been one of Victor's favorite interrogation tactics for as long as I'd known him. However since this time we knew exactly what the crime was and who had done it, all of us – except Alfie – were pretty much unaffected.

After another few minutes Victor finally began speaking. "One of you," he proclaimed, hands clasped behind his back. "Has erred." He gave us all a good glare and I couldn't help but wonder if he'd practiced this speech in front of the mirror. "You all know what I'm talking about. That little stunt with the loudspeakers earlier. It was not amusing in the slightest, and rest assured the perpetrators – as well as anyone covering for them – will be punished to the fullest extent of the law." I fought the urge to roll my eyes as I pictured all the things I could be doing right now that would be less of a waste of time. Flossing my teeth for example. Organizing my books. Stabbing myself in the eye with a thumbtack.

"I am giving you the _chance_ — " Victor raised a finger in the air for emphasis, " — to confess. Right here, and right now. If you own up to your wrongdoings, you will be granted leniency. If you remain silent, then _all of you_ lose your weekend privileges this month, and I will be forced to search your school bags."

I felt as Nina went rigid all over. "What do you mean search our bags?" Her voice shook ever so slightly.

Victor turned from looking suspiciously at Patricia and Joy to face Nina. "I mean, Miss Martin, that I will be looking for the tools used to hijack the school's technology. If they are found in your possession, you will be punished. If they are not in your possession, than you have no reason to worry." He paused and looked at Nina suspiciously as her face took on the appearance of someone trying very, very hard to look like they weren't worried in the slightest. "Do you have reason to worry, Miss Martin?"

Nina shook her head quickly. "Nope! Not at all, not a single, reason, to be worried. Scout's honor!"

I couldn't stop my eyes from glancing at the bag next to her, able to just barely make out the outline of the Book of the Dead through the fabric. There was a chance Victor had no idea what it was, that he wouldn't recognize it. There was also a chance that he was one step ahead of us, as always, and this entire thing had been an elaborate ploy to search our things after he hadn't found it in her room. Victor continued to stare at Nina, the scowl etched into his face betraying a hint of triumph. "Open your bag Miss Martin."

I saw Nina's hand contract into a fist. "What?"

"I said open your bag."

"I, uh, I don't have it."

I winced. Victor raised his eyebrows. "And what is that sitting right next to you?"

"Umm…"

"Hand it over Miss Martin."

Nina slowly, oh so slowly pulled her bag onto her lap and was just lifting it up when Amber let out a piercing scream. Everyone immediately looked over as she sprang from the couch and leapt onto the coffee table.

Victor turned to face her in absolute bewilderment and Nina took the opportunity to take the book out of her backpack and shove it underneath the couch as Amber pointed towards Mara's feet. "Spider!" she shrieked. "It's a _spider_ can't you see it?"

Mara glanced down before looking back up at Amber in concern. "There's nothing there Amber."

"What?" The blonde looked over in puzzlement before shrugging her shoulders. "My mistake. Sorry!"

Amber tossed her hair over her shoulder before daintily hopping off the coffee table and returning to her place next to Nina.

Victor fixed a suspicious gaze on our resident fashionista, before turning back to Nina. "Miss Martin I will ask you one more time and one more time only. Hand over your bag."

Nina rolled her eyes but complied, folding her arms as she did so. He upended it on the table Amber had just been standing on and Nina scowled as he sifted through her pens, notebooks and hair ties. Victor let out a much aggrieved sigh after a few moments. "Can none of you ever make anything easy for me?" he demanded.

"Come now Victor what fun would that be?" Jerome grinned.

Victor's shoulders straightened as he looked over at the school's most notorious duo. "Lewis. Clark. Your bags."

"Why do you always assume it's one of us?" Patricia snapped as Victor collected Alfie and Jerome's bags. "Every time anything goes wrong you immediately blame someone in this house and I for one find it unfair. If an earthquake hit you'd probably find a way to blame us for it."

"Just for that I'll take your bag as well Miss Williamson."

Her mouth fell open in indignant shock and I felt a twinge of sympathy. Patricia should know better than to draw Victor's attention when he was in hunting mode. Victor held out an expectant hand and Patricia set her jaw, defiantly throwing her bag at him with enough force to knock him back a step, causing Eddie to snicker.

"Yours as well Mr. Miller."

"Oh you don't want my bag," Eddie assured him.

Victor raised his eyebrows. "Why's that?"

Eddie shrugged. "I brought some pancakes from breakfast to school this morning and so now everything in there is covered in syrup. I was planning on throwing it in the washing machine later. I mean you're welcome to my bag if you want it, but I wouldn't."

Victor stalked over so that he was right in front of Eddie and leaned down so that they were face to face. Eddie looked distinctly uncomfortable until Victor pulled back a few seconds later, and strode out of the room. "Expect your bags back shortly. And clean up that mess Miss Martin."

Nina threw up her hands but stood and started to collect her things. "Right, of course. Makes sense since _I'm_ the one who dumped my things everywhere."

I stood to help as the vengeful muttering continued, gathering up her notebooks and handing them to her. She gave me a small smile. "Thanks."

I smiled back and we finished picking up her things as Amber began interrogating her boyfriend. "He's not going to find anything in there, is he Alfie?"

Alfie grinned, considerably more relaxed now that he was no longer on the receiving end of Victor's hawk stare. "Course not Ambs."

"Where did you put the whatever-you-used then?" The blonde's eyebrows knit together in confusion.

Jerome clapped a hand to his heart. "Oh ye of little faith! What have we done to convince you it was us who toyed with the school's technology? It's practically vandalism. Have our wretched housemates so little confidence, in the inherent goodness of our hearts, that you believe we would stoop so low?"

Nina and I and everyone else in the room immediately stopped everything we were doing as Jerome was met with a mix of exasperated glares and 'are you kidding me right now' stares. "Let's make a list shall we?" asked Patricia acidly. Nina took advantage of everyone's distraction to yank the Book out from under the couch and shove it back in her bag.

Jerome laughed. "We borrowed them from the janitor's closet and shoved them in some sixth-year's locker when we were done."

"Jerome!" Mara looked reproachful.

"What?" He looked confused. "The teachers all know it was us. We just made sure they couldn't prove it."

Nina and I finished collecting her stuff and she shoved it into her bag, making absolutely no attempt at organization. She grabbed my hand and I felt her press a piece of paper into my grip. I looked up at her, a question rising but she preemptively silenced me with a quick press of her lips to mine and pulled back with a wink, strolling out of the room.

Slightly puzzled, I sat back down on the couch, doing my best to subtly unfold the note and glance down at it. In Nina's precise handwriting she'd printed, ' _My room. Five minutes.'_

I frowned and slid the note back into my pocket, letting my housemates conversation slide into a buzz in the background as I tried to puzzle out what she wanted me for. I waited the five minutes – or at least as long as I could stand – and walked out after Nina.

I took the stairs two at a time in my curiosity. Maybe something had happened with Victor or the Book. Maybe Nepthys had contacted her again.

I knocked lightly on the door. "Nina?" I twisted the handle and pushed open the door. She was sitting on the bed, one leg swung over the end of it, chin propped up by a hand, leaning over the Book. Nina looked up as the door creaked open and grinned when she saw me. "What's up?"

Nina gave a little laugh, her tongue poking out between her teeth as she shut the book and placed it on the floor next to the bed. I waited for her to answer my question, but instead she tilted her head, hair spilling over her shoulder as she eyed me, a smile blossoming on her lips. I felt a bit confused. What had she called me up here for? "Umm, Nina?"

She slid off the bed and walked over. "Yes?"

"So you – you asked me to come up here — "

"Did I?"

I blinked. "Yes. And so I'm – I'm here now and I'm jus – just wondering as to the _why_ I'm here — "

The words in my throat died abruptly as Nina hooked her fingers into my belt loops, pressing me back against the door and simultaneously pulling herself closer so that her body was pressed into mine. My heart couldn't seem to calm down and I could feel the blood rushing through my body. She put her lips to my ear and whispered, "Because I asked you to come."

"Huh." It wasn't much of a reply, but it was the most intelligent sound I was capable of making at the moment. "Again, why?"

Nina gave a delicate lift of her shoulders, before releasing me and spinning away, walking over to the other side of the room, leaving me feeling as though I'd had a Band-Aid ripped off and been doused in ice water. I stared after her in confusion for a few seconds as she idly straightened the curtains before walking over to her. "Are you ever going to give me a direct answer?" I was extremely confused by how Nina was acting right now, enough that I forced myself to wonder if this was a dream.

"Maybe if you start asking the right questions," she said. I got the distinct feeling Nina was enjoying herself right now.

"What are the right questions?"

Her hands stilled. "Well rather than ask why I brought you up here," she turned and leaned back against the wall, eyes roaming up and down my body. "Try asking what I plan to do now that I've got you here." I'd never understood the expression undressing someone with your eyes before now. Although in all honesty, rather than simply undressing me, Nina seemed to be tearing my clothes off with her eyes and flinging them to different corners of the room.

I suddenly realized why she'd brought me up here and I felt myself beginning to smile. "Well then," I walked over to Nina, placing one hand on the wall behind her for balance. "What do you plan to do?"

Her eyes sparkled with delight and she ran a finger along my collar. "What do you think?"

I let the hand not on the wall wrap itself around her, splaying my fingers against the small of her back. "That's still not an answer."

"No?"

"No."

"Hmm. Well that is unfortunate."

My lips twitched. "Quite."

Nina's smile widened and she placed her hands firmly on my shoulders, walking me back across the room. "Maybe instead of _telling_ you — " the backs of my knees hit the bed and my pulse jumped " — I should be _showing_ you." Before I could quite comprehend what was happening, her hands on my shoulders had contracted into fists and she swung me around and _tugged_ , sending us both toppling back onto the bed.

A sound a bit like a grunt a bit like an, ' _oof_ ' escaped my lips as Nina dragged me down on top of her. Our legs were tangled up in each other and our bodies fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, sending heat rushing through me as I felt everywhere – _everywhere_ – Nina pressed up against me.

I made to prop myself up slightly, not wanting to crush her but she smacked my hands out from under me and I dropped back down again. She smiled, running her hands up and down my arms, making me shiver. I didn't think I'd ever seen Nina like this before, this teasing, playful side of her. It was… fun. I leaned my head down, brushing against her ear. "Don't you have something you're supposed to be showing me?"

Nina kept that small smile on her face, allowing one hand to wander over near the nape of my neck and under my shirt collar. "Would you like me to show you?" Her voice was a murmur.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd enjoyed myself this much. "If you want to show me."

Her smile became a smirk. "Good answer."

Nina wrapped her legs around me and gripped my arms, rolling us over and I barely registered my surprise at how we didn't fall off the bed meant for maybe one and a half people at the most. The second I was underneath her Nina leaned down and fused her lips with mine. Adrenaline crackled through me and I reached up to knot a hand in her hair, letting the other skate down her back. Her lips tasted like spearmint, sharp and tangy. I opened my mouth to hers, trying to taste more of her and she opened hers right back, nipping at my lips and surprising a sound of surprise and pleasure out of me.

We'd never done anything like this before, at least not with each other. I didn't know what Nina's experience was, but I was simply moving on instinct as my hands roamed over her back, her lower back, and then lower still. I felt her tense and I froze, our lips a hair's breadth apart. "Nina?" A question.

"Don't stop." A warning.

I felt myself smile. "As you wish." I moved my head back up to kiss her again, losing myself in the taste of her, the feel of her. I felt like there was probably something else we should or could be worrying about, but any time that particular unpleasant thought reared its ugly head, it immediately flew back out every time Nina ran her tongue along the roof of my mouth, or slid her hands inside my shirt to run them along my shoulders – she had somehow gotten the top few buttons undone without my noticing. Something I was learning quickly was that Nina was very, very good at distracting me with her lips and her hands and every other part of her.

A dull rushing was filling my ears that increased with every brush of Nina's fingers against bare skin, every press of her lips to mine. There was a burning need rising up in me to feel more of her, and that was all I knew. That desire for more. I moved one of my hands from where it was beneath her ear, cupping her neck, and brought the other up from her waist. I drew a tiny bit of my focus away from kissing her and directed my hands towards her school jacket. I twisted my fingers into the fabric, and as closely pressed together as we were, felt her breath hitch the slightest bit. "Take it off," she whispered.

A nervous energy bubbled up inside of me. I wasn't sure how far she wanted to go, or how far I was willing to go, not just with Nina but also with our housemates a single floor below, and her roommate capable of entering at any second. I just knew I didn't want to stop yet. I clenched my fingers around the blazer and started to slowly slide it off, inch by inch. Nina seemed to have considerably less patience than I did however, because the second it passed her shoulders she arched her arms and tore it the rest of the way off, flinging it to some corner of the room.

My hands molded themselves to her arms through her thin uniform shirt; I was a cartographer, mapping her out with my fingers. I moved one hand over to curl in her hair, letting the strands slide through my grasp as the other shifted to glide beneath her shirt, tracing her collarbone. She made a sound against my mouth and I was convinced someone had drugged me because this was nothing less than ecstasy and surely I would die from the pleasure. But I honestly couldn't think of a better way to go.

The door slammed open and Nina leapt upright, straightening her shirt as Amber strolled in and walked over to her vanity, seeming not to notice me. "OK Neens so I've been thinking about what I want you to charm for me or use your Chosen One magic on or whatever, and I've decided that I've found it and since we've decided you can only do one at a time I've decided that you should do me first since I'm your roommate and your best friend — "

Amber chose this moment to turn towards us, a hair clip about go into her head, her voice stuttering out when she saw Nina sitting semi-rigid on the edge of the bed, me propped up on my elbows, both of us looking more than a little disheveled. Her eyes flicked between us, once, twice, and then she tossed her hair and smiled. "Hi Fabian."

I lifted a hand. "Hi Amber."

"So. Right. I'm going to go then, and Nina you can get to this later, so I'll just be, umm, going then."

Nina took pity on the blonde girl, interrupting her roommate. "Amber, you do know I'm doing everyone later tonight, right?"

Amber frowned, her hand on the door handle. "What?"

Nina winced. "Right, my bad. I texted the others, I was going to tell you later. I'm doing them tonight before bed; I want to get them all done at once."

Amber folded her arms. "And you forgot to tell me? I'm an original Sibuna member!"

"I was going to tell you! It just… slipped my mind," Nina tried to defend herself. "It's in here at about nine."

"OK, noted," Amber said. "So I'll just, umm," she coughed. "I'll leave you to it then. Bye!"

She opened and ducked through the door, pausing to poke her head back in. "Oh, and put a chair or something in front of the door! Honestly, you two have _no_ sense sometimes."

The door clicked shut and Nina made an annoyed sound of frustration, falling back on top of me. I let her weight knock me back onto the mattress and grinned. "It wasn't that bad." She raised her head to glare at me in disbelief and I laughed. I couldn't help it. "Come on Nina, just try and forget about it."

That smile that had been driving me crazy mere moments ago drew itself back onto her lips as she sat up. "Forget about it huh?"

I nodded, pushing myself up to look her in the eyes. "That was what I said, yes."

The smile widened. "I know what could help me forget."

I didn't have time to respond before she wrapped her arms around my neck, attaching her lips to mine. More than happy to assist my girlfriend in her quest for temporary amnesia, I twined my arms around her back, and together we fell back on to the bed, losing ourselves in each other.

* * *

Sibunas were good at a lot of things. Solving puzzles. Evading vengeful rulers. Cheating death. Pissing off Victor. Sitting in an even circle, is not one of our talents. Some of us always end up a bit on the outside, or too in the middle, and because Amber is a perfectionist we then have to spend roughly the first five minutes of every meeting fixing ourselves so that we're perfectly symmetrical. Today it was taking longer than normal, mostly because Joy didn't feel like moving and Alfie kept jumping up to say something. When we finally got settled, everyone pooled his or her objects in the middle. Joy had brought head phones, Alfie had a stuffed clown doll that would probably give me nightmares, Amber was using her eye mask, I'd brought a pair of socks and Patricia – unsure what to use that Victor wouldn't snatch – had ended up bringing a pajama shirt. The girls were doubtful of that one. "You do realize that's the only shirt you can wear until this is over?" Amber checked.

Patricia shrugged. "I'll wash it."

"Every day?" Joy prodded.

Patricia folded her arms. "Oh stuff it already, it's not your shirt."

Amber opened her mouth to protest again but Nina put a hand on her arm. "It's not the end of the world. Let her do what she wants." She gestured at the pile. "Everyone sure? Remember, no take backs." There was a general consensus of head noddings and sounds of affirmation. Nina flipped the Book open to the page and swallowed, looking slightly ill. "Eddie?"

"Right here." Her Osirian was directly to her right and held out a hand. She clasped it, linking their fingers together, looking immediately more reassured and I fought down an irrational flare of discomfort. They'd explained that since Nina had practically collapsed the last time she'd done this, she would be drawing on Eddie's strength this time around as a precaution.

Nina held out her left hand over the collection of objects; and though she seemed calmer having Eddie nearby, I could see the lingering tension in her body. Reading from the Book, she started speaking.

If you asked me what she said, I couldn't tell you. It wasn't any language I recognized, although she was speaking in a way that sounded American. Although admittedly that might have been the accent. Wisps of red started forming around her hand, clawing at her fingers but Nina kept going, her words rising around us, spilling from her lips and filling the air with their melody. I don't know how long she spoke for. I lost track of time, of sense, of all things meaningful. There was just Nina and the spell – because what else could it be – that she was casting, the red around her hand, swirling from her palm to cradle our objects in its pulsating grasp. I couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed that I'd picked socks. Surely I should've chosen something more sentimental, something more profound for such an occasion?

Nina lowered her hand and the last few shimmers of red seemed to be absorbed into our objects, which gave a quick, faint, red throb, before fading back to normalcy. I looked over at Nina and nearly did a double take. Her face had gone slack and her hand was gripping Eddie's so tightly her knuckles had turned white. There was a pale golden glow where their hands were joined that seemed to be flowing out of Eddie and into Nina. This went on for a little while before Nina released his hand and exhaled once, carefully and hard.

"Nina you all right?" I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen her look this bad.

She nodded, once, a sharp movement. She then proceeded to place her hands over her face and lean back until her head was on the floor behind her. Eddie gripped her by the shoulder and closed his eyes for a few seconds, before nodding. "She'll be fine. Just drained is all."

"How drained?" I asked, unable to keep the sharp edge out of my voice.

Eddie tried to grin but it looked more like a grimace. "Well she won't have any trouble falling asleep tonight, that's for sure."

"But it worked right?" asked Amber. "I mean, the whatever-she-did? It worked?"

Eddie shrugged. "Looked like it."

"Awesome." Patricia reached in and grabbed her shirt out of the pile, looking at it suspiciously, as though she expected it to grow teeth.

Joy noticed her staring and laughed. "It's still a shirt Patricia. Just armored up, or whatever."

Alfie made a face as he grabbed the clown doll. "Great. Now I'm going to be thinking this thing's possessed or something. It's not possessed is it Nina?"

Aside from a noise that could not be interpreted as either affirmative or derisive, Nina did not respond to the question.

I looked at Eddie, worried, but he waved me off. "Trust me. She'll go to bed, wake up and be fine in the morning."

"Hollyeyetnight. Ianaell."

The group looked at Nina in confusion. "What?" Alfie asked.

She made a frustrated noise and lifted her hand, floundering it around for a while before it landed on Eddie's shoulder. She tugged him down so her mouth was next to his ear and said something I couldn't hear, but it made Eddie frown. "No. Bad idea Neens."

"What's a bad idea?" asked Amber.

Eddie lifted himself back into a sitting position. "She says she'll be fine tonight and wants to get out of the room."

"What room? This room?" asked Joy.

"No, the room we're stuck in, the one we had to come to you guys for help with."

Patricia rolled her eyes. "Oh you mean the freaky dream room with too many keys. I mean she'll technically be sleeping while she's there, so she should be fine right?"

Eddie frowned. "Well, technically probably, but — "

"Look she's got those earrings she charmed, she's coming anyway. And if we take them the only thing that happens is that psycho lady starts killing her in her sleep again."

Alfie – who had been started staring at her strangely – moved his head close to hers and looked at her very carefully. Patricia shoved him away and folded her arms. "What?" she snapped.

He shrugged. "That's the most logic I've ever heard you use in the same breath," he explained.

Patricia smacked him.

* * *

∞"What if we all choose a key at the same time, pull it off the wall, and hope for the best?"

The rest of us let out a collective groan. This was the fifth time Amber had suggested something like this in twenty minutes. So Nina, for the fifth time in twenty minutes, again explained that wouldn't work. Amber wrinkled her nose. "OK, see, you say that something bad is going to happen, but we don't know what that potentially bad thing would be. What if we just wake up?"

Patricia, sitting on the floor nursing her foot, rolled her eyes. "OK, after everything we saw last year, if you still want to risk it, go ahead. However if you try, I will probably break your fingers."

Amber gasped, sounding offended, and walked over to where Alfie was stomping on random patches of floor, testing for hollowness.

According to Eddie's watch – although who knows how accurate it was right now – we'd been here for about an hour, examining every single nook and cranny of the room, removing the lanterns from the walls, only to realize this did nothing and put them back, even standing aside when Patricia grew so frustrated she kicked the door. This had accomplished absolutely nothing except to entertain the rest of us as she hopped around for the next few minutes, cursing and rubbing her toe before Eddie got her to sit down. The only thing we'd managed with any certainty was when Alfie had – accidentally – snapped a thick, wooden stick off the wall that no one had even noticed was there. He was currently twirling it between his hands, so most of us were giving him a wide berth, for fear of possible concussions.

I glanced over at Nina who was seemingly bickering with Eddie in the corner. I was just about to walk over when Joy called out from her place near the message, "Hey anyone bring a torch?"

Eddie opened his mouth and Nina answered before he could even sound the question. "Flashlight." I bit back a smile at how smug she sounded, thinking back to two years ago. We'd been trapped in the attic and when I'd suggested a torch, she'd derisively asked if I wanted to burn the place down. She'd been so… _American_ back then. Not that she wasn't still American now, but she no longer took a few seconds to process whenever one of us used British slang.

"What do you need it for?" Patricia asked.

Joy scratched a fingernail against the wall. "It feels like there might be something written here, but I can't tell if it's a stain, or intentional, or what. And it doesn't help that the lights are absolutely useless."

Amber fished around in her pocket before tossing a miniature pink one over. Joy caught it with a thanks, and clicked it on, pressing it up against the wall and squinting. "There's definitely something here," she said a few seconds later, sounding excited. Joy had only joined at the very end last year; she didn't yet know the thrill that accompanied solving one of these puzzles.

Nervous energy started to fill the room as our focus shifted over to Joy. "Try moving back a bit," I suggested. She turned to me with a confused look, but shrugged and took a few steps back, keeping the light fixed on the same spot. The brightness filled up the room, washing everything in a blinding whiteness that made us all blink as we waited for our eyes to adjust. "There!" Alfie pointed. In the center of the message were rings of circles, growing bigger as they moved outwards. And at the center was a crudely drawn picture of fire. It was dark enough to blend in with the walls, so dark that without the torch we probably never would have seen it. I tilted my head. The circles looked familiar, almost like a, like —

"It's a target." I turned to see Nina's entire face had lit up. She shoved herself off of the wall and hurried over to the lanterns, yanking the closest one off. "Joy, don't move that light."

I walked over as she pried the metal top off. It had clearly been removable once, but was currently rusted shut. "What are you thinking?" I asked.

She looked up at me and grinned, making my heart thump painfully. "Wait and see."

The lid came off with a squeal and she held a hand out to Alfie. "Give me the stick."

"It's not a _stick_ , it's a _staff_ ," Alfie protested, even as he walked over to hand it to her.

Nina took it from him and grinned. "It's not a staff Alfie. It's a torch." She dipped the stick (staff, torch, whatever) into the lantern and there was a sudden flare that made Amber cry out. Nina passed the lantern to me with a 'hold that please' and walked over to the wall, holding the now flaming wood out to the side, careful to stay out of the way of Joy's… torch. Hefting it, I saw as she took a single deep breath, and pressed the flaming end to the fire in the center of the target.

For the briefest second, nothing happened.

Then —

Nina cried out and jumped back, the torch clattering to the ground as the entire target flared up, fire consuming everywhere the design had been until the whole thing was fire and as I ran over to Nina to help her up, I briefly wondered if she'd set the room on fire and we were going to be burned alive. But no, the fire was too purposeful for that. Now that all the rings and the drawing in the middle were burning, things seemed to have stopped catching fire. Then the flames began to move.

They disconnected themselves from each other and broke into pieces, wiggling around on the wall like fiery caterpillars. I felt Nina clenching my hand tightly, probably wondering what was going to happen next. They shifted and squirmed and eventually clicked into a new pattern, a row of letters, spelling out, "From the middle to the back. 7 left. 4 up." No one seemed to object to my reading aloud, they were all still too busy staring. Now that they'd given their message, the flames slowly burned away, leaving nothing, not even scorch marks, to show that they'd been there. Even the target had come back, sitting there looking as dark and unused as ever.

I glanced over at Nina and saw her face – well all of her really – had gone tense. I gave her hand a squeeze. "Hey. You good?" I made sure to keep my voice to a murmur, not knowing what was wrong or if she wanted people to realize anything was wrong.

She swallowed and nodded. "I'm just… not a huge fan of fire is all. But I'm fine. I promise." She was still frowning though, so I did my best to smile reassuringly. When that didn't work, I pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. She smiled when I drew back, and I mentally high fived myself.

"WHY," Patricia's demanding tone drew our focus to the rest of the group, "Would you think we'd need string? No, really. I'm genuinely curious."

Amber stuck her chin out. "Well it turns out we do, so good thing for all of us that I brought it isn't it."

"Why do we need string?" Nina asked.

"While you two were being all kissy-kissy," Eddie smirked as Nina squeaked and my face warmed, "We decided middle to back means middle lantern to back wall. We're sticking with the lantern theme and this wall's right across from that one, so it makes sense." While he'd been speaking Amber had tied one end of the string to the top of the lantern and was walking the other end to the wall across from it.

"Here." She tapped with her finger. "This is the middle."

Joy clapped her hands together, grinning. "OK, what was it? Four down, something left?"

"Seven left, four up," I supplied. She beamed at me and I felt myself smile back, not noticing how the smile once again slid from Nina's face before she drew her hand out of mine and walked over to Amber.

She counted out seven bricks to the left, and four up, as Joy walked over to me. "How did you know what that thing said?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Back when Nina first got here we were trying to read a message on the back of this painting, and we needed Egyptian numbers to figure out part of it. I kind of just, memorized them I guess."

Joy grinned impishly at me. "That is _so cool_ Fabes."

I felt my eyebrows rising in surprise. "Really?"

"Found something!" Nina's declaration cut off whatever Joy's answer might have been. I couldn't hear whatever she said to Amber from across the room, so Joy and I walked over as Amber pulled a nail file out of her pocket and handed it to Nina as Patricia threw up her hands in apparent surrender.

Silence crackled through the room as Nina used Amber's file to pry a brick looser and looser until she could slide it out of the wall. She turned it over and dumbed something into her hand, holding it up so the rest of us could see what it was.

"A key!" Alfie yelped, practically vibrating with excitement. Joy clasped her hands together and smiled the widest smile I'd seen from her in a long time.

Clasping the key in her hands as though it was a diamond, Nina practically flew over to the door. The seven of us seemed to be holding in a collective breath as Nina slid the key into the lock, turned, and with a soft _click_.

The door swung open.

 **AN: For that one reviewer who asked: yes this is intended to take place canonically, post season 2. However, for story purposes, there are** ** _itsy bitsy_** **alterations I'm making. But they're teensy I swear! Sorry Purists! But I promise I'll try and keep it as close to the real thing as possible. Thanks for the question. And thank you to everyone who participated in my survey!**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POV's you'd like to see.**


	14. Chapter 12: Eddie

**Eddie**

I have discovered that Patricia and I have a pattern.

We'll be fine; we'll be walking or talking or laughing or making out or anything really, and it'll be fine. And then we'll have some attempt at a meaningful conversation or go a bit farther than we have before, and something will happen before we can finish and then she'll avoid me. Or she'll avoid me all on her own, without any prompting from outside forces whatsoever. She hadn't so much as looked at me since yesterday afternoon, when we found Victor in Nina's room. I'd managed to sneak another kiss right after we sent him out, but she'd quickly pushed me away and sent me to the end of the hallway to make sure he wasn't coming in again.

This was the third time this had happened this semester, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't frustrating. Which was why I was currently playing Tetris on my phone as I leaned against her locker, waiting for her to come over once the next bell rang. Because she liked to have her backpack as empty as possible for fifth period drama, she always left her book for sixth period world history in her locker, meaning she would need to come get it.

The bell blared out through the now repaired loudspeakers, and students immediately began trickling out of doors up and down the hallway. I did my best to look like I was still focused on my game, when in reality I was straining my peripheral vision to the best of its abilities looking for my girlfriend.

I waited until the halls had thinned back out to their usual capacity before shoving my phone in my pocket and heading over to her fifth period class. Maybe she'd decided to ditch again, seeing as I'd never even found out why she left the first time. As classroom doors slammed shut I kept my pace leisurely, utterly unhurried. I'd realized last week that I was disappointingly low on tardies this semester, and firmly resolved to stack a few up. I neared the now empty drama room as the bell rang, turning the corner to see Patricia flat against the wall, clearly eavesdropping. I had half a mind to call out to her in a loud voice, just to see her jump, but fought the urge. Instead I crept over, keeping my steps as silent as possible until I was directly behind her. "What'cha doin?" I breathed.

She jumped and swung around, half a second away from punching me in the face before she saw it was me. My shoulders started shaking as I tried to rein in my laughter and she scowled, shoving against my shoulder. "Damn it Eddie, that _wasn't_ _funny_!"

She kept her voice quiet and I took the hint. "Yes it was," I said. "I for one found it very funny. In fact, I found it so funny—"

Patricia clapped a hand over my mouth. "Would you shut up?" she muttered, leaving her hand on my mouth as she focused back in on her conversation. I was tempted to lick her hand, but opted to listen with her. As my ears began picking up voices I did a double take. I recognized some of them, but one in particular struck me.

"Victor, I thought we were done with this." He sounded tired, but more or less holding firm in whatever argument they were having.

"Come now Eric." The voice was female. One of the teachers, maybe? "The gods call to you as they call to us. Are you really going to run from them?"

"You know as well as I do this is my only shot." Victor. "When you prepare to enter the realm of Anubis, what do you want to be able to say about your life?"

"I will be able to say in no uncertain terms that I put my students in no further danger!" My eyes widened. Rarely did I hear that tone come out of Eric's mouth, that steel. "I don't know what madness has come over you Victor, but this is my school, and these students are under my protection, and I will not allow you to enact this insanity for the sake of a blasted book!"

"The Book of the Dead is not, as you so eloquently put it, 'a blasted book'," the woman crooned. "Believe me when I say my partner and I would make your assistance worth your while."

"Over my dead body," was the headmaster's reply. I exhaled sharply through my nostrils, wishing he had used a different phrase, then mentally kicked myself for taking it so seriously.

"What of the dead body of your son who you seem to be so keen on keeping from us?" That simpering female voice. I blinked, unsure if I'd heard her correctly, but from the way Patricia whipped her head towards me, the hand on my mouth slightly tensing, I knew I hadn't misheard anything.

"You do not touch my son." Never before had I heard Eric's voice so deadly. "Edison has no part in this, and if you bring him into it you will never set foot within a hundred miles of this campus again."

"Blast it Eric he's already a part of it!" Victor roared. Patricia jumped. "He is Osirian, like it or not, he and Nina Martin are bound by an inextricable chain and you will _convince him_ help us or so help me gods we will go through with our plan for Halloween without you, no matter the consequences."

 _What plans?_ Patricia and I looked at each other as we both leaned a bit closer, urging them to say it, _say it…_

Her phone chose that moment to start ringing.

Patricia swore under her breath, scrambling in her bag and yanked it out, ignoring the call, but the damage was done. The headmaster and Victor rounded the corner, frowns on their faces. No sign of the woman they'd been talking with. Victor stuck out his chest, folding his arms as he glared down his nose at us. "What do you two think you're doing here?"

I kept my eyes off my – Eric's ashen face, training them on Victor. Patricia spoke first as I struggled for words. "We were looking! For a place – to have a, um…"

"Private conversation," I cut in. "Teenage drama, you know how it is." I flashed my most charming smile, willing innocence into my face.

Victor raised a bushy eyebrow. "And _why_ , pray tell, could this conversation not wait until after the school day was finished?"

I clasped my hands together, putting on my best 'I'm superior and also innocent so please don't realize I'm lying' airs. "Well, you see Victor, conversations like this require a certain mood. And once the atmosphere hits the right mood and the prior conversation that lead up to _the_ conversation hits a certain spot where you just know you have to pause, you have to find a spot to keep the momentum going otherwise you'll never have the conversation and then you just wind up in the same spot a few days later—"

"Enough, Mr. Miller, I understand the concept." Victor's face had been growing steadily more purple the longer I'd talked, and I bit down on a smirk. "Get to class, both of you. I'll deal with you later."

Not needing to be told twice, she grabbed my hand and we turned and walked back down the hall as quickly as we could while still looking casual.

"Edison! A moment please!"

I barely turned my head, plastering on a grin. "Sorry, gotta get to class! Later dad!" The word was ash in my mouth.

We turned the corner but didn't stop walking until we were in the main hallway, when we both loosed a collective breath. "Well _that_ was fairly dramatic," I said. Patricia glared at me, but didn't pull her hand out of mine, which I assumed was a good sign. "I don't suppose you heard what were they talking about?" She shook her head and I grimaced. "Wonderful. I'll tell Nina to have the nuclear bunker ready come Halloween."

My girlfriend frowned at me. "I feel like that's a tad extreme."

I snorted. "You're kidding right? Shall we review Victor's previous plans? What should we start with, the ones that almost got people killed or the one that _actually_ got a person killed?"

She rolled her eyes. "Look we'll figure out what we can about whatever they're planning before Halloween, but for now let's just keep it to ourselves alright? Nina's got enough to worry about as it is."

I turned the idea over in my head before giving a nod of consent. "But if we haven't figured it out the week before, we at least tell Sibuna he's planning something. Victor and whoever that other lady was. Deal?"

"Deal." She turned and used our joined hands to tug me over to her locker, which she promptly spun open.

My throat dried up a bit. She was obviously in a good mood right now, and I was loath to cause her to release my hand, but we did need to have a talk. Preferably soon, definitely in private. I gazed longingly at her mouth, allowing myself a few seconds to stare at it before opening mine and ruining whatever calm we'd somehow reached. "I think we need to talk."

The hand inside her locker froze, and the one clasped in mine immediately went taut before she withdrew it and used it to rummage in her locker. Her head shifted ever so slightly so that a curtain of hair fell to block part of her face from view as she asked, voice steady, "About?"

As I tried to pluck out the right words from the hurricane raging inside my head, I decided I really should have thought of what to say before bringing this up. Some practicing in front of a mirror may not have been overrated either. "I need to know why you keep pushing me away."

Her shoulders lifted and dropped, hands still moving things around in her locker. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do." I waited for her to deny it again, but she just keep looking around in her locker for something I had a feeling she'd never find. "Yacker." Nothing. " _Patricia_."

" _What?_ " She turned to glare at me, eyes alight with anger. "What is it Eddie? Are you mad I'm not ready to have sex yet? That I don't want to spend every single minute of every single goddamn day with you? Or maybe it's that I actually have an identity that exists separate from my relationship with you? Is it that—"

"Do you ever stop to breathe?" I demanded. Her accusations had caught me off guard, enough that I'd been to stunned to say anything at first while she railroaded me. "Patricia where are you even getting these ideas from?" She opened her mouth – presumably to yell at me again – and I cut her off. "If this is about you telling me you've never had sex before, newsflash, I already knew that."

Her mouth abruptly slammed shut and her hands curled into fists. "Who told you that?" she demanded, her voice low. Angry. Scared.

I swallowed back a sigh of exasperation. "No one told me anything. I figured it out." She remained frozen, a very angry, somewhat embarrassed statue, and I kept going. "Look you told me I was your first kiss. So unless British relationships have shockingly different bases than American ones, it would stand to reason you've never had sex before."

Her fingers flexed before reforming a fist and I sighed. "Look Yacker, I'm trying here. OK? I'm trying so damn hard with you, but you have to find a way to meet me halfway. You can't be my girlfriend one day and then totally ignore me the next, that's not how a relationship works."

"Which I suppose you would know," she said acidly, "Given that you have roughly fourteen failed ones."

"Jesus Christ – really Patricia?" I demanded, fighting against the anger rising up into my head, clouding my thoughts. I didn't know anyone else who could get under my skin this easily, this deeply or quickly. She thrust her chin out, eyes glittering with defiance. I bit down on my cheek, hard, before speaking. "What do you want me to say? That I regret it? That I'm ashamed of what I did, ashamed of _myself_ , for what I did? Because believe me Patricia, there is not a day that goes by that I don't remember the things I've done and hate myself for doing them, so whatever you feel towards me for it cannot possibly match the disgust I feel for myself."

Her face had remained stony while I talked, but by the end of my rant her eyes had narrowed. "And what, exactly, did you do that was so awful?"

"None of your business," I snapped, mentally cursing. I hadn't meant to tell her all those things, it was too much too fast and I was not ready for her to know the unfiltered truth of the things I'd done.

She snorted. "Right, and I'm the one with trust issues."

"Well then I guess we both have issues," I said, working to keep my gaze squarely on her eyes. That damn _mouth_ of hers.

"So what are we going to do about it?" A challenge. Everything was always a challenge with her.

I sighed in exasperation and leaned my back against the lockers. "I don't know."

She crossed her arms. "Well I don't know either and I don't care enough to figure it out."

The words hit me like a physical blow, each one a slap to the face and I jerked back around to face her. "You don't care?" I knew on some level my mouth had formed the words and that my vocal cords had pushed them out of my lips, but my brain seemed to be disconnected from my body, and I was watching the events unfold from afar.

Patricia's eyes still glittered – not with defiance at all anymore, but something else – and she stubbornly set her jaw. "About this relationship? Not enough."

I felt a hollow laugh scrape out of my throat. "Well then what the hell are we even doing?"

She shrugged. _Shrugged_. Each beat of my heart was a hammer to my chest and she was _shrugging_. "So if you're the expert, then what comes next?"

A hot, cloudy feeling was taking over my brain. "Well in my experience this is where one of us storms away and we never talk to each other again."

Patricia jerked at that. "Never what?"

Another empty chuckle. "You had to have guessed none of them had happy endings."

 _Ask her to take it back. Ask her to care. Ask her to care. Ask her to care, care,_ care _._ The words thrummed through me over and over again, timed to the rhythm of my pulse. But I knew deep in my bones that I could beg her on my knees but I could not make Patricia come to me. She had to want it. Like magic, she seemed to respond, "I don't want to never talk to you again."

I spread my arms. "Well then what do you want?" My voice broke a little at the end. "Because I can't keep guessing forever."

"I don't know." The words fell from her lips – God, those _lips_ – to crush the remains of that thing in my chest. "I don't know what I want."

This conversation was not finished. Not nearly. But I suddenly found myself unable to be around her for another minute, not when every second I looked at her now felt like needles in my eyes. Not when just minutes ago I'd held her hand, and now if I so much as touched her she'd probably snap at me. "Well you let me know when you figure it out."

I turned was started walking down the hallway, ignoring the buzzing in my ears, my heart begging me not to leave everything hanging like that, to get some sort of definitive answer one way or the other.

I was so wrapped up in my head that I didn't hear her footsteps coming up behind me and then her hand was on my shoulder and she tugged me around to face her.

A tired 'what' was rising to my lips, demanding to know what else she could want when she'd just sucked all the joy from my system, but her eyes were still shining, this time with anger. "You are such an _idiot,_ " she muttered, not even giving me a chance to ask for clarification before she obliterated all conscious thought in my being by fitting her mouth to mine.

I was rigid at first, unwilling to give in to it, waiting for her to pull away. But then her fingers ran through my hair and her teeth were tugging at my bottom lip and a sound escaped somewhere from the back of my throat. I was on fire, I was no longer a human being but molten lava that had somehow managed to retain my previous human shape. I let my bag drop to the ground as one hand wrapped around to fist itself in her hair, the other cupping her neck, trying to move her, press her towards me.

I needed her closer.

I grabbed her by the elbows and steered her backwards, and as we neared the lockers she started to break away, confusion drawing new lines across her face but I grabbed her lips with mine again before she could voice a question, pinning her to the lockers to further drag her up against me, sending flames racing all throughout my nerve endings. She released a low moan into my mouth as her lips opened up, her tongue seeking mine and I shuddered with the pleasure of it. Her foot lifted to wrap itself around my leg as my hands roved across her neck, her cheeks, her arms, her back, her waist. All of her. I wanted all of her.

The thought sent a whirl of memories through me that I wasn't ready to relive and so I kissed her harder, opened my mouth wider, twisted my fingers deeper into her hair, blocking out all thought but the feel of her skin her hair her _mouth_.

We finally broke apart, lips swollen, struggling for air, and the realization of what we'd done dawned on me and I groaned. "Patricia," I gasped, leaning my forehead against hers, staring at her eyes, her mouth, her cheeks. I found one of her hands and wrapped it in one of mine, desperate to hold onto whatever contact I could. "What do you want from me?"

She licked her lips and another wave of heat coursed through me. "I don't want to break up."

Those might very well be the most beautiful syllables I'd ever heard. "Anything else?"

Her tongue darted out again and I suppressed the urge to catch it. "I don't want to have another fight like this."

I closed my eyes and breathed in once, deeply. "That means talking."

"I know," she said.

"Soon would be better."

"How does right now work?" I raised my eyebrows and she shrugged. "After a kiss like _that_ , do you honestly expect me to be able to focus on history? Don't be stupid."

A laugh popped out of me, a welcome change from the previous atmosphere and she grinned.

* * *

"So how does this work exactly?"

I raised my head to look at her. We'd gone to the old library to make sure we wouldn't be interrupted. It no longer housed ancient Egyptian artifacts, and so there weren't locks or guards to get past, but someone still came out to clean it once a week, so students occasionally came over to make out or work on the occasional project or just to talk.

During our walk over I'd tried to get my body temperature back to some semblance of normal, while Patricia had walked silently next to me. The silence had continued once we'd arrived, so the main difference was the fire that had flooded my veins while we were kissing had been replaced with a nervous buzz. We'd been just sort of meandering around the room, both of us waiting for the other to talk first.

She shrugged. "As you've so thoroughly deduced, I don't have much experience in this department. So what happens now? Do you talk first? Do I talk first? Does one of us start talking and then we spontaneously break into a dramatically choreographed musical number about our feelings for each other?"

I laughed. "Well remember I don't really have a whole lot of experience either."

She raised an eyebrow. "So we just sit here in awkward silence until curfew then?"

Growing listless, I shrugged and gravitated towards one of the chairs, and Patricia followed, sitting across from me. I tapped my fingers on the armrest, thinking of how these things normally went on TV. "We could say one thing we're happy with and then one thing we have a problem with?"

Patricia smirked at me. "Really?" she said. "That's the best you can come up with?"

I shrugged and the smirk slowly fell away. She sighed. "Well, hell. Alright fine, I'll go first. I like how…" Patricia cast her eyes about the room. "I like how I can be myself around you." Her cheeks turned gloriously red as she said this, and she refused to look at me. "I don't like how… I just…" she took a deep breath. "I feel like there's something about what you did with those girls that you don't want me to know and it's leaking over into our relationship, but since you won't tell me what it is we can't fix it. Instead we just have a different problem crop up every twenty minutes that leads to either discussions about our emotions or arguments, neither of which I enjoy."

"I feel like it's not a different problem, if it's rooted back to the same problem," I said. She glared at me and I raised my hands in surrender. "OK, fine, my turn. I like the kissing." Patricia blushed even harder and I smirked internally. "I don't like how you tend to pull the plug on us every time I piss you off."

She frowned and I could sense her proverbial hackles raising. "I do not!"

"Yeah you do. All the time. It's annoying."

The frown deepened and I mentally sighed. "Well excuse me for actually _reacting_ when I'm irritated. God forbid I should actually act angry when I'm angry, I don't know _what_ is wrong with me."

"See? You're doing it right now," I said, cutting off her monologue.

Patricia scowled at me. "I am not."

"Well you're about to. Another few seconds and you would have crossed your arms and been a statue for the rest of an extremely unproductive conversation."

She did, in fact, cross her arms, looking most displeased as she did so. "Well what would be a, 'productive alternative' then?" she demanded, using over exaggerated air quotes.

"You could try remembering you're my girlfriend?" I suggested. "When I piss you off, you're allowed to be pissed, you can ignore me or whatever, but don't act like we're strangers. And maybe if it takes me longer than twenty-four hours to figure out, tell me what I did?"

Patricia let out a much-aggrieved sigh and I swallowed a laugh. I was asking for communication, not a kidney. "I will… work on it," she acquiesced. I grinned, feeling proud of us, but then Patricia opened her mouth again. "And what about you?"

I knew what she was talking about but pretended not to. "What about me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Am I right? Is there something you did with those girls that's affecting what happens between you and me? And judging by what you said in school, it's at least some what of a big deal."

I blew a breath out through my nose, ignoring how my chest tightened when she said 'you and me'. "I was hoping that stuff had somehow gone over your head," I admitted. Patricia looked amused at that, but stayed silent. I sighed. "There were… certain, things, certain, certain events that transpired during that time period. I am not proud of what I did, and it's not something I'm ready to relive, so when I say I can't talk about it that is all on me and has nothing to do with you."

She pursed her lips together and I forced myself to look only at her eyes. "So there's something that's happened that's causing problems, but you won't tell me what it is, and you want me to believe your reason for not telling me has nothing to do with me."

 _Well it's partly because I don't want you to see me for the despicable human being I am, but yeah that's pretty much it._ That was the first answer that popped into my mind. Instead I gave a self-deprecating grin and said "Basically?"

Patricia tilted her head back, considering, then sighed. "OK, fine. If you're not ready or whatever, I'll respect that. I've got some stuff I'm not ready to tell you either."

I ignored the relief those words ignited. "Alright, this seems to be a pretty good system. I reckon we give it until next period and then head back."

And so we did, trading our likes and dislikes, each of us promising to do our best to improve on the other's problems before heading back to school. I mean, we made out for a little while after we finished, but I felt we'd earned it.

* * *

Nina is not a fun person to be around when she's stressed. Mostly, but not entirely, because her brain has the rather depressing tendency to jump straight to worst case scenarios at every possible opportunity, and said scenario tends to keep getting worse and worse until she's convinced we're all going to die.

"Maybe you've got an anxiety disorder," I interrupted.

Nina, who had been devolved from thinking of solutions to panicking about the newest task to a diligently listening Amber, turned to me with a scowl. "Excuse me?"

I shrugged. "Seems reasonable. The rest of us are more or less calm, and meanwhile you're over there planning out our eulogies. A disorder may not be entirely out of bounds."

She rolled her eyes. "That's rubbish," she snapped before turning back to Amber only to clap a hand over her mouth as Amber shrieked excitedly.

Joy winced, removing her hands from her ears as Amber started pointing repeatedly at Nina. "What?" Joy demanded.

Amber stopped pointing but looked no less radiant, standing from the couch. "Everyone! Everyone! Announcement! Nina has finally been converted!" She squealed.

Patricia, Fabian, Joy and I looked at her in confusion as Amber beamed. "Converted how, exactly?" asked Fabian.

Amber whirled around to him excitedly. "She said, and I quote, 'that's rubbish'," declared Amber, sounding ecstatic. " _Rubbish_ , Fabian, she said 'that's _rubbish'_!"

Patricia started laughing, Joy rolled her eyes, and Fabian looked amused at the whole ordeal. I clapped a hand to my chest and mimed falling out of my chair as Nina vainly tried to defend herself. I pointed at her accusingly, pretending to choke. " _Traitor_ ," I rasped out, causing her to laugh.

I stayed on the ground, pretending to spasm as Amber took full credit for the transformation, before eventually flopping into stillness as I 'died'. Patricia took the opportunity to kick me in the leg and I sat up, disgruntled. " _Ow_." I pointed at Nina accusingly. "I have been _betrayed_ ," I announced, putting on a wounded face. "I give you three months before you're drinking tea and talking with an accent."

"It was a one time slip I promise!" Nina looked at me beseechingly, fighting laughter.

"You know we don't have a whole lot of time before Jerome and Mara come back." Joy's voice cut through the merriment as we all sobered up. Alfie could only keep them busy for so long. "We should really get back to trying to figure out what to do about the new task."

After the door had opened last night, we'd been greeted with total darkness on the other side. We'd fought over who would go through first before Fabian volunteered, much to Nina's detriment. He'd gone through, declared himself to still be alive, and the rest of us had followed. When the last of us had gone through however, there had been a sudden flood of light, blinding us. Once we'd regained our sight, we found that the group had been split into two different rooms, unable to see each other, barely able to hear each other through the wall. If Amber hadn't thought to text Nina (how she had cell service I don't know), we may have assumed the other half had vanished. Unable to think of what to do next, we'd familiarized ourselves with our new surroundings until we'd woken up. Today during lunch, Amber had suggested that Alfie distract Mara and Jerome after school while the rest of us tried to figure out what was happening now. So far all we'd managed to do was compare rooms, watch Patricia and Joy compete to see who could balance the most pencils on their face, and see Nina almost hyperventilate. Well not really. But I digress.

"If there was a way out of the other room, there's a way out of this one," Nina said. She kept repeating this, as though if she said it often enough the answer would appear out of thin air.

"You keep saying that," said Joy. "Maybe it's a trick. Maybe Sally already got what she wanted and now she's toying with us." Tired of calling her 'the green-skinned person' or 'Lizard Lady', Amber had decided that the woman would henceforth be known as Sally and promptly texted it out to the rest of us a few days ago.

"Until we know there's no way out, we should try to find one," said Fabian. "I agree with Nina."

"Shocking," Joy mumbled. Patricia elbowed her and Fabian's forehead tightened. Nina, in what I thought was a remarkable show of self-restraint, let it slide. "Moving on," she declared.

"What if you try and talk to Nepthys again?" asked Patricia. "Maybe she can tell us what's going on."

Nina started to shrug and then shook her head, before biting her lower lip. "Maybe. Last time she came to show me about the charm she said she was too weak to give me much help, and that was almost a month ago."

"You'll never know if you don't try," Patricia pushed.

Nina sighed. "Well yeah, but there's the small problem of I've never really been able to contact her before. She's always come to me."

"You could check the Book, see if it's got anything." suggested Fabian.

Before we could start to debate this new method, the front door swung open, and we all started to busy ourselves with school work as Mara and Jerome entered, both of them seeming disgruntled with Alfie. "Don't you 'come on Mara' me," Mara snapped at him. "We spent almost two hours looking for that frog you stole from the biology lab before you realized it _never left the room_."

"It was an honest mistake!" Alfie protested.

I shared a look with Patricia, both of us grinning as Jerome went to the kitchen and Mara stomped upstairs, Alfie on her heels still pleading his case.

Jerome tossed and caught a jar of peanut butter, before turning to where we were all busily working in the living room. "If you people had anything to do with this, I will be most displeased," he said idly, grabbing a spoon and heading over to the table.

Joy raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you going to eat that plain out of the jar?" she asked incredulously.

He nodded sagely and Joy shuddered in disgust as she turned back to pre-calc.


	15. Chapter 13: Nina

**Nina**

Falling asleep had been a lot easier when there wasn't the chance I'd die when I closed my eyes. Of course I probably wasn't in any _current_ danger of dying, but after weeks of being burned to death, drowned and boiled alive, it was taking a while to readjust to the idea of sleep without danger. Not that our current sleeping arrangements weren't dangerous, but at least they weren't life threatening in any obvious way. As a result, it took me half an hour to fall asleep that night and I was the last one in the room, Eddie, Alfie and Joy having already arrived.∞

∞"What took you so long?" demanded Joy. "We've been waiting for ages."

I waved a hand dismissively. "Couldn't fall asleep," I said, before changing the subject. "Have you got anything done?"

"Well, we argued over whether or not to start without you," said Eddie lazily from his place on the floor. "Although seeing as you're here now the argument is sort of moot."

I sighed and pursed my lips, scanning the room. There was a table up against one side with a circular indent in the middle of it, a bookshelf on the middle that started at about my waist height and continued on up to the ceiling with equally spaced wooden beams beneath it going to the floor, each with a different animal carved onto it. The other two walls were blank aside from their torches that lit the room up, but we could faintly hear the others through the one across from the table if we all shut up and concentrated. It hadn't changed at all from last night. I frowned, ignoring Joy's unnecessarily loud voice as she talked to Alfie about how she knew they should've started earlier.

"Take the books down."

The others turned to me. "What?" asked Alfie, looking relieved to be away from Joy's monologue.

"The books. All of them. Take them down." They still had looks of confusion on their faces, ranging from slight befuddlement to 'what the hell is she going on about' and so I marched over to the bookshelf and started pulling them down one at a time, talking over my shoulder. "We're checking to see if they trigger secret passageways, if there's a secret marking behind them, anything. Come on."

Eddie reluctantly migrated over and began tugging books down, and Alfie and Joy quickly joined us. There had to be around two hundred of them (it was a gigantic bookshelf) and after a few minutes of tugging Alfie made a noise of surprise. "What's up?" I asked without turning to look at him.

"This book is like, suspiciously light," he said, weighing the book before opening it and going "aha!"

At this we paused in our assault of the bookshelf and turned to look as Alfie pulled out a small box. "The book's been hollowed out!" Alfie said, grinning. I immediately hopped over – and I had to hop, because the ground was littered with books I didn't want to step on – and asked him if I could see it.

He scowled at me. "I found it!"

I rolled my eyes, stuck my hand out expectantly and he handed it over with a fair bit of grumbling. It was made out of a rough, reddish-gold material, patterned to look as though it were made from sand, and there was a four-digit combination lock built into the front. I ran my hands around it for a few seconds, thinking things over. "Ok," I said, mostly to myself, and then once more to get my bearings, "ok. Eddie, you look through the books we've already pulled out, I need you to double check that we haven't missed any more hollow ones. Alfie, you try and guess the combination on the box. Joy, you and I will keep working on the shelf, but this time see if the book is hollow before you chuck it."

Eddie and Alfie nodded and started on their tasks, while Joy rolled her eyes and muttered that she was going to do that anyway. I breathed through the flare of irritation in my chest and ignored her.

The work went considerably slower, now that there were only two of us and we had to check the books every time we pulled one down. Joy found one containing a small key fairly quickly, and we celebrated before realizing we had no idea where it went. We stuck the book and key on the table with Alfie's book and kept going. A few minutes after that, Eddie made a sound of triumph and held up a giant, rusted half of a key. This generated happiness and a fair amount of confusion, as there was still no keyhole in the room that either of the keys could appear to fit in. We only had two shelves left when I found the fourth item, a golden magnifying glass. It went on the table with the others and we kept pulling books off until there was simply a gigantic wall lined with shelves, and we had a tiny key, half a giant key, a combination box we didn't know how to open, and a magnifying glass. None of which we could figure out the use for. Not to mention we also had a floor we could hardly walk on owing to the fact that we were practically ankle deep in books.

"What now Chosen One?" asked Joy, and I scowled inwardly at the openly mocking tone of her voice. I didn't mind the nickname coming from Eddie, he meant it only to tease me. Joy threw the title at me as though it were a knife, seeking to wound any way she could. She didn't even need Fabian around to be cruel to me, apparently it just came naturally. It had gotten even worse lately, but now it seemed less as though she was frustrated with me, and more like she was frustrated with other things in her life, and because she hated me I was now the object she focused her anger on. At least that's what I thought it must be, since I certainly wasn't going out of my way to annoy her. Rather than comfort me however, this only served to make me more irritated with her as I felt her usual insults and snide remarks were entirely undeserved. Well, _mostly_ undeserved.

"I don't know Joy. What do you think we should do?" I shot back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alfie and Eddie look at each other and carefully step away and I inwardly rolled my eyes. Honestly, what did they think we were going to do? Spit fire at each other?

Joy blinked innocent eyes at me. " _You're_ the Chosen One Nina. I thought I'd leave it up to you."

I smiled sweetly. "I'm open to ideas." My vision was starting to turn red and I shoved my hand in my bathrobe pocket to hide the clenching of my fists.

"If I may," interjected Eddie, and we both whipped our heads towards him so fast wearing such identical expressions of dislike that he visually recoiled. " _I_ think we should try the magnifying glass."

I blinked, confusion sweeping away some of my anger. "Try it how?"

Eddie made a sweeping motion with his hands. "On the books. I mean, there's not much else we can do, aside from keep guessing at the combination. There aren't any keyholes and the books didn't trigger any secret passageways."

I raised skeptical eyebrows. "It's a magnifying glass, not an invisible ink reader. What exactly are you looking for."

Eddie rubbed an eye and picked up the magnifying glass. "Well, I'm giving it a go. I'll tell you if I find anything."

"No," I said, suddenly. "Joy, you do it. Eddie I need to talk to you about something."

They raised their eyebrows but mercifully switched without complaint. Eddie walked over to me and I led him to the corner near the bookshelf. "Eddie what's the point of this?" I didn't whisper exactly, but I spoke in a low voice, not wanting to distract Alfie or give Joy any more ammunition.

He folded his arms. "The point of what?"

"You know, this. All of it. What we're doing here. Nepthys and Sally and everything. We don't know what the endgame here is, it's like trying to use a treasure map with no x marks the spot and not even knowing what the treasure is or why we want it."

Eddie rubbed at his chin thoughtfully and I noticed with some amusement that he needed to shave. "I wish I could give you the answers Nina, I really do." I held back a sigh of disappointment and he kept talking. "I just know that we got the book, and Sally was ready to resort to some pretty drastic methods to take it from us, and Nepthys is obviously against her. So if Nepthys needs some help from us I'm happy to give it." I raised my eyebrows and he grinned ruefully. "Ok, so maybe 'happy' to be doing this is too strong a word, but you have to admit, we're never bored."

A short laugh was surprised out of me and Eddie placed a reassuring hand over my shoulder. "I know I haven't been doing this nearly as long as the rest of you have, but from what I've gathered you guys've always tended to figure this stuff out as you go along. We'll be fine Nina. It's my job to look out for you, remember?"

I was unwilling to be consoled that easily. "Still, what are we even trying to do here? Are we trying to get back to that weird library to return the book? We don't even know how these dreams work Eddie. We are tripping our way through this and I feel like sooner or later it's going to come back to bite us in the ass."

Eddie smirked. "Bite us in the _arse_ , you mean. You are British aren't you?"

"Oh my god," I mumbled. "It was a one time thing I swear!"

He laughed good-naturedly. "Look I understand you're stressed, but that's just the room getting to you. We'll get out of this one and the next, you're just stressed about it now because of how ridiculous this place is. You seemed plenty relaxed during dinner, given your and Fabian's, shall we call them, under the table activities."

Heat flooded my cheeks and Eddie laughed. "How did you — "

"Dropped my fork and had to duck down and get it," he smirked. "And if you ask me, one of you was sending your foot rather high — "

"Alfie how's it going?" I interrupted loudly, for Joy had worked her way over to the books nearby where Eddie and I were talking and was sitting very rigidly.

"I'm trying to guess a four-digit number code with no clues whatsoever," said Alfie waspishly. "How do you think it's going?"

Joy suddenly jumped up so quickly it was like she'd been electrocuted. "Maybe if I," she murmured, hurrying over to the table. Looking at each other, Eddie's eyes still filled with mirth, Eddie and I followed to watch Joy examining the cover of one of the four hollowed out books with her magnifying glass. "Each of the books has a number on the cover, see?" she said excitedly. "It's probably a clue for the lock!" The rest of us waited with bated breath as she continued to look through the glass, studying the cover, the spine and the back, before setting it down, disheartened. "Nothing," she said.

She'd given me an idea though. "Check the inside," I suggested.

Joy glared at me suspiciously. "What?"

I sighed, half anger half resigned, and took the magnifying glass. Joy surrendered it more than a little reluctantly and stepped back as I flipped open the book and raised the magnifying glass to my eyes. I was immediately greeted with a golden glittering 2 in the hollowed out square; I was so startled I nearly dropped the book. Excitement started to build up in the base of my skull and I immediately set the book down and grabbed the next, flipping it open. Sure enough, it was empty by itself but I raised the magnifying glass, and this time the number 3 appeared, as sparkly as the other. A quick examination revealed a one and a four in the other books and I arranged them in order before flipping them shut to read the numbers on the cover. "Alfie, try eight, nine, three, six. In that order."

You could almost _feel_ the tension in the air as Alfie fiddled with the dials, and he gave a sudden shout of excitement as the lock clicked and the box snapped open. We all immediately swarmed him to see what was inside as he pulled out –

"A ball?" Joy sounded incredulous and I didn't blame her. What were we supposed to do with – "In the table!" she exclaimed suddenly, grabbing it from Alfie (ignoring his cry of protest) and sweeping all the books and things off. She placed the ball in the dent in the table and we held our breaths –∞

∞My eyes snapped open and my mind tried to wrap itself first around the fact that I was awake, and next around what had caused my sudden, and highly rude awakening, before fixating on the alarm clock on my bedside table, which I promptly turned off. I sighed, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, and turned my head to see Amber yawning, her fingers twitching.

"Well we're still stuck, what about you?" It took me a minute to understand the question, as Amber was still yawning when she asked it.

"Making progress, I think," I grunted, still not wishing to get out of bed. I was struggling to grasp the fact that the task had taken – I checked my alarm – over seven hours. It had seemed maybe forty minutes at the most. But was it really so surprising that time worked differently wherever it was we went? Eddie's and my 'deaths' had never seemed to take that long either, but we'd only gone through a single one of those every night. I suddenly realized Amber had started talking and dragged my mind back to the conversation at hand as I sat up. "What's that?"

"I _said_ , ours is basically a time-consuming waste of effort that's exceedingly ridiculous and essentially very mean," she pouted. "It's just translations and none of us even know the languages, we're just fumbling our way through and there's multiple translations and none of us even speak Swedish and the whole thing's absurd."

It certainly sounded that way, although Amber seemed particularly grumpy this morning so I decided not to voice that particular opinion. Instead, as we dressed, I filled Amber in on our room, leaving out my conversation with Eddie and spats with Joy, watching as her expression grew progressively more envious. " _Lucky_ ," she moaned. "Your room takes actual brain power and creativity, ours is just _boring_. Patricia's about ready to explode, I don't know how Fabian's enjoying himself."

I was currently attempting to pull my socks on while standing up, but at the sound of Fabian's name I fell backwards onto the bed. "What about Fabian?"

Amber rolled her eyes impatiently. "He's actually enjoying it, though how he manages I'll never know. But he just sits there, poring over books and convincing Patricia not to smash her head into the wall."

Sensing Amber's irritation I held back a smile, resolving to get more details later. We finished getting ready, with only the minor hiccup of Amber realizing she was nearly out of one of her favorite lip-glosses. Having made this discovery she promptly produced a sound so high-pitched I was surprised humans could still hear it. I headed downstairs without her as Amber now had to change a good deal of her outfit and redo all of her makeup.

The table was almost full when I got down, only Amber, Eddie and myself were missing. Fabian had saved me a seat next to him, but remembering the conversation with Eddie last night I ducked my head and sat in between Mara and Patricia instead, striking up a conversation with the former about French class.

"Really I just think he underestimates how much our class has covered the past few years," concluded Mara. "Although," she continued, "he _is_ rather horrible at grading. You remember how wrong he was about Joy's first test? He did it _again_ with the quiz on subjunctive tense, but that quiz we took last week? He gave her a hundred percent. _But_ ," and here she lowered her voice so I was forced to lean in. "I checked her quiz over just to make sure, and she missed six questions, including the extra credit!" Mara shook her head in disbelief. "What is he playing at? I've asked around the classes and it only seems to be Joy's tests he's screwing up. I'm thinking I might do an article about it, leaving Joy anonymous of course. What do you think?"

I shrugged. "My honest opinion? I don't love having quizzes every other week, but aside from that, if it's related to Joy then I don't really care for it."

Mara suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Right. You've got that… that thing."

I snorted. "Yeah. We've got, 'that thing'."

Mara glanced at Joy, who was currently on the other end of the table and moodily stabbing at her eggs, before turning back to me and dropping her voice to practically a whisper. "Nina do you think you could maybe, be nicer to her?"

My brain took a few seconds to comprehend this request, and another few to ascertain that Mara was being serious. "Me? Be nicer to Joy? It's not like I'm the one picking fights every two seconds!" I hissed. "Besides, what do you even care? She's your roommate, not your girlfriend."

Mara sighed, and her voice dropped even lower. "I know, but she's going through a hard time lately. I don't know what it is, she won't tell me, but I hear her crying herself to sleep sometimes. I'm not saying you have to be best friends, just maybe try not to rub salt in any wounds?"

"It's not my job to babysit her," I said flatly. I was still bitter over the numerous stunts Joy had pulled last year.

Mara opened her mouth but Jerome who interrupted her to say, "Well you two look very secretive," saved me from answering.

Mara turned to her right to assure her boyfriend that we were simply plotting his immediate downfall and I subtly glanced to the left to see Fabian involved in a heated argument with Alfie. "There's nothing _wrong_ with liking homework," he said stubbornly.

"No of course not. It becomes wrong when a teacher asks for an eight-page essay and you're complaining about not having enough room. Then it's very, very wrong."

"I like keeping busy," Fabian retorted. "Besides, schoolwork relaxes me."

Alfie suddenly clapped a hand to his chest and made very loud, obnoxious noises of strangulation, pantomiming for air, before falling out of his chair. The rest of the table, whose attention he had successfully captivated, waited impatiently as he slapped a hand onto the table and heaved himself up into a standing position. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said dramatically, "I have an important announcement!" He paused for effect, waiting for someone to ask what it was and Jerome happily obliged.

"Well don't keep us in suspense Alfred, what's the dealio?" he asked cheerily. In my opinion, much more cheerily than anyone had a right to be this early in the morning.

Alfie spread his hands out in front of him. "My fellow housemates, it is with great sadness that I announce, Mr. Fabian Rutter has achieved… Prime Geekiness!"

At this, Fabian's already pale cheeks flushed quite red, and he turned back to his breakfast with sudden interest, examining his potatoes as though they held all the answers to the universe. Jerome laughed, still playing along as most of the table watched in amusement. "What ever could have happened to preclude this tragedy of an occasion?" asked Jerome with utmost curiosity and innocence.

"I'm glad you asked old boy," said Alfie sagely. "Apparently his symptoms have gotten so bad that it's progressed to the point where schoolwork relaxes him. I don't think he's got long before his status heightens to Lord of the Geeks, or, indeed, even Geek Supreme Ruler."

Fabian made an exasperated noise and stood from his chair as Patricia and Eddie cackled in harmony. "Run off to school why don't you Fabian? Don't want to be less than half an hour early for class do you?" called Jerome after him. Mara turned and started to berate him as I stood and grabbed my bag from the back of my chair, following Fabian. He was walking slightly faster than he normally did, and was already outside.

"Hey wait up!" I called, jogging over to him.

His pace slowed down to a casual power walk, and I fell into step beside him. "You know you can't let them get to you," I admonished. "Alfie's stressed about the rooms and everything and Jerome and him just like to egg each other on. You normally manage to ignore it pretty well."

"Yeah I'm aware, thanks Nina," he snapped.

I blinked, and then cleared my throat. "Ok, my bad. I'll just walk here quietly then."

We proceeded in silence for a few minutes before he sighed. "I'm not mad at you Nina. Just some days they get to me more than others." I nodded, accepting this, but still feeling slightly stung. He turned to look at me. "Nina, I'm sorry for snapping at you."

"It's fine," I said stiffly.

"It doesn't sound fine."

I shrugged. "You know I don't like when you're cross with me."

His eyes turned towards the ground and an awkwardness filled the air, becoming so thick you could cut it with a knife. Eventually I couldn't stand it anymore. "You know, Lord of the Geeks would probably make an interesting role playing title. Very sexy in the right circumstances."

Fabian promptly tripped over nothing, barely managing to right himself, and came up sputtering, cheeks a bright, flaming red. I laughed, and just like that the tension disappeared. There was no more talk of role-playing, but we did get into a deeper-than-intended discussion over dementors that continued all the way to our lockers.

"Ok but if you're stricken with terror I don't think it would be the easiest thing in the world to concentrate on a happy memory," Fabian insisted.

"First off, they're not terror-inducing, they're sadness and hopelessness inducing and stuff like that, JK Rowling based them off her depression. Second, patronuses are freakishly difficult to cast, it's mentioned by Lupin right off the bat that tons of adult wizards struggle with them."

"Still, the point remains, if you're getting dragged through your worst memories and drowning in negative emotions, how are you logically supposed to summon up a happy memory if they're all being sucked out of you?"

"But the memories themselves aren't being sucked out of you, just the positive emotions that you associate with them."

"So what you just think of happy things without the happiness and the patronus works anyway?"

"No, you have to get the happiness back and the happiness fuels your patronus, you have to remember what it felt like."

"It seems like dementors have a rather unfair advantage," complained Fabian. "They just have to float over and inhale, Harry and the others have to go through emotional gymnastics."

"Yeah, that's why the charm is so difficult."

The bell rang and we headed over to Mr. Sweet's classroom, and I had been right in the middle of a rant about the drastic lowering of dementor quality from the third movie to the fifth, which amused Fabian to no end, when Mr. Sweet came in. "The third movie they were completely perfect, with the creepy flowing robe, all cut up into ribbons, and the hands and everything, they were all slow moving and creepy and it was perfect. Then in the fifth movie, we transition to what are practically Styrofoam skeletons with fabric draped over the heads and ribbons taped to their backs, I mean come _on_. It's ridiculous! They can't give me the dementors of my dreams and then expect me to accept knock-off Halloween decorations! I have standards!"

"You're really worked up about this aren't you?" laughed Fabian.

"It's not like I don't have good reasons," I said. "Don't even get me _started_ on the so-called 'dementor's kiss' in the third movie, I can go for hours."

"I'm sure you can, Miss Martin, however I must ask that you reserve your debates to non-class prescribed time in the future." I immediately turned around to face Mr. Sweet who was staring at me expectantly.

I cleared my throat. "Of course sir," I said, feeling more than a bit embarrassed.

We attempted to pick the discussion back up once the bell rang with an expectant, "so tell me about your views on boggarts" from Fabian but Mr. Sweet called our attention back.

"Students if I may have a word before you go?" Most of the class halted in the middle of shoving notebooks into bags and pencils into cases, but there was still the occasional rustling. "Yesterday, my office was broken into, presumably by a student, and something was taken. As such, starting third period classes are cancelled, while we conduct a full-scale investigation. Thank you."

The class finished packing and began to file out, but I was suddenly incapable of movement. I felt a tapping on my shoulder and ignored it. "Erm, Nina? Class is over."

I turned to Fabian, fighting to keep the panic off my face. "How much do you want to bet," I breathed, "That nothing was stolen and this is just another BS excuse of Victor's to search our things? The book is in my bag, Fabian, where the hell am I supposed to put it? They'll be searching the lockers, and it's not like I can run back to the house and stick it in my mattress."

"Mr. Rutter. Miss Martin. You don't want to be late for your next class do you?" Mr. Sweet held the door open for us and I quickly shoved my things into my bag and darted out the door, Fabian on my heels. I felt a sudden resentment for the headmaster and his constant bowing to Victor's desires.

We headed over to second period calculus as I desperately tried to think of where I could hide the book so Victor wouldn't find it. With twenty minutes to go we were finishing a worksheet and I was quickly growing frantic, when Fabian suddenly grabbed my arm. "Nina. The library. We can hide the book in the library." I stared at him in shock, hardly daring to believe it, and Fabian mistook my silence. "Or I could think of something else — "

"Fabian if we weren't in class right now I would kiss you," I whispered.

His cheeks became tinged with pink and he gave a sheepish grin before taking my worksheet and checking the work. I planned out what I would do as he looked the problems over before handing it back to me with problems six and thirteen marked off.

I redid the two and Fabian headed up to the front of the class to turn the worksheets in while I slowly packed away my things and kept my eyes glued to the clock. The second the bell rang I tore out of the classroom as quickly as I could without looking suspicious. It wasn't all that hard, considering everyone was in a hurry to find out more about the mysterious (and probably non-existent) office break in. I reached the library and worked my way over to the very back shelf, where the fictional historical dramas were. No one ever went back there. I pushed a few books about Henry VIII aside and shoved my book in the middle, taking a step back to inspect it. Mine was a good deal thicker and taller than the rest, but assuming no one came to check on it they wouldn't see anything suspicious, and if no one opened it Victor would never be the wiser. Just in case though, I grabbed a couple other tall books from a few shelves over and shoved them in to stagger the effect, before dashing back out into the gym, trying to control my breathing as the last few students trickled in. I looked around for my friends, and upon finding them over near the wall, proceeded to work my way over, popping up next to Amber as Mr. Sweet stepped up on stage and cleared his throat.

"As you have all undoubtedly been made aware, something of value has been taken from my office," he announced. I rolled my eyes as he continued, "Right now, teachers are going through the halls and checking your lockers. After this, they will search the bags, and if it is still not found, your rooms."

"This is an invasion of privacy," muttered Eddie, and I nodded in agreement.

Patricia however, snorted in derision. "I'm sorry, you've been at this school for how long again?"

"I must ask that you all remain in this room, until further notice. Thank you."

I immediately turned to Amber. "I bet you twenty dollars nothing's actually been taken and that this whole thing was Victor's idea."

Amber sighed. "If it is then that's really unfair. I normally have free period next, I was going to order that new lip-gloss. Halloween is in two weeks and I need it for my costume."

Everyone was either stressed to breaking point about the teachers searching their lockers, burning with curiosity, or some combination thereof, and so it was impossible to carry on a conversation. I settled for sitting against the wall next to Fabian with my head on his shoulder as he held my hand, understanding that talking wouldn't help right now.

After two hours the teachers finished searching the lockers and our bags were passed forward. Another two hours after that and a couple students started grumbling about how hungry they were as we were sent back to our houses so our rooms could be searched. We picked up our bags as we left and at this point I was having difficulty breathing. What if Mr. Sweet grabbed the book while we were back in our houses? What if the librarian saw it, recognized it as out of place and donated it? What if the school exploded?

Fabian, who I knew was also stressed, was being extremely helpful. His hand in mine felt like it was quite possibly the only thing anchoring me to the earth.

It was 1:30 when we got back, and Trudy (nearly mutinous when she found out we hadn't eaten since breakfast) made us sandwiches. I was too nervous to touch mine however, my stomach felt as though it was made of snakes.

An hour later Victor was standing in the living room in front of us, looking displeased. "Just because I found nothing, does not mean any of you are innocent. If I find out, that any of you," he looked pointedly at Jerome and Alfie, "were in any way involved, I will make sure you are punished to the fullest extent of the law."

He turned and walked away, we could hear the stairs creaking under his weight and the others started talking excitedly. I stood up and walked over to Trudy. "Trudy? Do you think I could run back to the school real quick? I forgot my science book."

She waved me off. "Oh yes, of course, whatever you need love."

I thanked her and headed out, Fabian joined me, and I was practically vibrating as we walked across the grounds. I made it to the library shelf and a strangled sound escaped my mouth and my knees threatened to give out with relief when I saw that it was still there. Fabian threw an arm around my waist to keep me steady and I leaned into him, closing my eyes, before turning and burying my face in his shoulder, wrapping my arms around him. I could hear his heartbeat. I allowed myself ten seconds of comfort before letting go of him and returning the book to my bag.

The walk back was much less stressful, probably helped by how Fabian kept an arm around me as we walked, not stopping until we returned to the house.

If your body has been stressed for an extended period of time, once the stress-causing event has passed, it's like your mind suddenly unravels. You're so relieved you don't know what to do with yourself, and simply float through your day in a contented bliss. Because we had minimal homework to do, Jerome and Alfie gathered up every card deck in the house and bullied Mara into helping them build a mansion on top of the coffee table. Amber ordered her new lip-gloss; Joy, Eddie and Patricia had stolen one of the card decks and were playing Go Fish at the table. Fabian and I were on the couch, he was rereading _Hamlet_ while I rested my head on his lap with my feet propped up on the armrest. The book was securely in my bag, Fabian's fingers were in my hair, Joy wasn't being awful, and Victor had vanished. I was finding it very hard to stress about anything.∞

* * *

∞"What the hell are we supposed to do with a dragon?"

Alfie had found a button on the ball that caused it to emit a soft blue glow, and we'd placed it back in the table. It had proceeded to somehow project a faintly blue outline of a dragon onto the wall across from the table. However, he had no idea what this meant.

Eddie raised a hand. "Obvious isn't it? Check the dragon thing beneath the bookshelf."

I was closest, so I found the wooden beam beneath the bookshelf with the dragon engraving and pried at it with my fingers, shifted it back and forth, and then my hand slipped and I shoved it inwards, causing a square of paneling between the beams of a cat and a lion to slide away revealing a keyhole. I grinned, borderline euphoric. "Alfie, toss me the key."

"The half key or the key key."

"The key key," I said impatiently.

Alfie tossed it over and I caught the key, my fingers trembling with anticipation as I fit the key into the lock and turned.

I jerked my hand back as the entire panel immediately slid to the side. The boys cheered as I stuck my head in to see what appeared to be a crawl space. I took my head out and turned to the others. "Might as well go through it."

Alfie immediately stepped back. "No way. Don't you remember the last tunnel we went through? The Tunnel of Terror?"

I choked back a laugh. "Tunnel of Terror? Really Alfie? That's what you came up with?"

Alfie looked offended. "Amber thought it was a great name."

"Did she now?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, no," he admitted. "But she didn't laugh at either!"

I shook my head and turned back to the tunnel. "Well _I'm_ going through. You guys are welcome to join me." With that, I ducked my head and crawled into the tunnel.

It wasn't a particularly large tunnel. It wasn't so small that I had to army crawl my way through it, and could instead move forward on my hands and knees. Rather than going straight ahead the tunnel immediately went left and so I followed it, hearing one of them enter behind me. Shortly in it turned left again and I proceeded to follow it for a couple dozen feet before meeting a dead end.

I turned and saw Eddie behind me. "It's a dead end," I called. "Give me a second." I pulled my phone out of my pocket and turned the flashlight on, shining it around, finding success with a keyhole in the wall to my left.

"Hello?"

My head jerked up so hard it hit the ceiling and I yelped. "Ow!" Massaging my scalp I called back, "hello?"

"Nina? Is that you?"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Fabian."

"And Amber!" cried a new voice.

"Fabian! Amber!" I turned to grin at Eddie excitedly. "Where are we?"

"You're inside the wall, can you get out?" said Amber.

"How'd you get there?" Fabian asked.

"We opened up a crawl space in our room and it led here," I answered. "There's a keyhole in the wall, I was about to ask Eddie to go back and get the key."

"Why do I have to get it?" Eddie complained.

I rolled my eyes. "Because you're behind me. Now hurry up."

"The half key or the key key?"

"The key key!" Eddie laughed at my exasperation before turning himself around and beginning the short journey back. "And bring Joy and Alfie with you!"

He made some sort of noise that I took to mean he would indeed bring them, and I turned back to the wall. "I don't suppose there's some sort of button that would open up wherever we are?"

Fabian laughed. "Sadly, no. That would make things simpler wouldn't it?"

"Disappointingly simple actually, given the ridiculousness of the room so far."

"Yeah Amber said your guys' was a fair bit more complicated than ours."

"It's completely unfair! Nina gets all the fun things," I heard the blonde complain.

"Amber also said that you were actually enjoying yours. What's that about? Apparently Patricia thinks you're crazy."

"Patricia thinks everyone who doesn't appreciate heavy metal is crazy."

"That's not my opinion Fabian, it's scientific fact," Patricia called over. I laughed as Eddie turned the corner with Alfie and Joy on his tail.

"Hang on guys, Eddie's back."

When they got closer Joy called over, "Nina how do you know this key'll even work?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's the only key in the room and this keyhole looks about the same as the last one. Besides we searched the whole place, if there's something else to open it with we don't have it."

They reached my spot and Eddie handed me the key. I blew out a quick, shallow breath, hoping against hope Joy wouldn't be proven right and me wrong. I slid the key into the lock and twisted. The key was immediately spat back out and a square section of the wall slammed open, sending up a fair amount of dust. I put the key in my bathrobe pocket and coughed, my eyes started to water as the dust died down and I pulled myself through the space. I tried to blink the stuff away as a pair of hands wrapped around my shoulders and helped lift me to my feet, pulling me into an embrace I would've recognized anywhere. I laughed in delight, and hugged Fabian back, loving the feeling of his shoulder blades beneath my hands. I found myself inexplicably grateful his pajama shirt was made out of such thin material.

I drew back to see Eddie grinning at Patricia and Joy and Alfie hauling themselves out. Amber clapped her hands in excitement when she saw her boyfriend and threw herself at him, knocking him backwards.

"Ouch! Ambs, be careful!"

"Be quiet Alfie, you're ruining the moment!"

I laughed and suddenly noticed Joy making a face at me. "What?" I demanded.

She smirked. "Your hair."

My hands went to it automatically. "What about it?"

The smirk widened. "It's covered in dust."

I felt my cheeks reddening and was infinitely thankful that my skin didn't show blushes that easily. "I'll fix it later." Eager to change the subject I took a step back to face Fabian, Patricia and Amber. "So, what are you guys doing?"

"A task that seems to be a colossal waste of time," sniped Patricia. She pointed at the wall to the left of where we'd just popped out of. "See those? We have five different books and don't know what language they are, just that one's Swedish to English and one's Spanish to something else. We don't know what the other three are so we've been sort of fumbling — "

"It's a Japanese cipher," I interrupted, staring fixatedly at the wall.

Eddie coughed pointedly. "A what?"

"Japanese cipher," I repeated, scanning the numbers. "Or at least a cipher in Japanese. They're numbers, two numbers to a set and each set's a letter, probably," my eyes darted over to the books, "the cipher matches up to one of the books if I had to guess I'd say the one in Russian."

"What's Russian?" asked Amber.

"That book, the one with the blue cover that's not a dictionary, can you hand it to me?"

I turned to see everyone staring at me in confusion and sighed. "Never mind, I'll do that in a minute. Did they give you any paper?"

"Since when do you read Japanese?" Fabian asked, looking slightly awed.

"Since I was twelve, do you have paper or not?"

"Yeah over here," said Patricia, pulling a notepad out of her pocket.

"What about Russian?" asked Fabian.

"Also since I was twelve, thanks Patricia." I turned back to the wall and began copying down the numbers, writing quickly. Puzzles and riddles, those I had become good at out of necessity. But this, languages. This was my element.

I finished jotting down the numbers and sat down on the floor next to _Anna Karenina_ and flipped open to page twenty-seven, talking aloud. "It's a cipher, see. The Japanese on the wall, it's sets of numbers. Each set the first number is the page, second number is the word on the page. The dictionaries are to help with the translation, this entire room is basically designed to slow us down." I found word forty-three, 'bricks', and began flipping to the next page. As I worked, the room's atmosphere devolved from tense silence into animated boredom. I was vaguely aware of Fabian sitting down next to me, watching as I translated. It took me about five minutes to get the whole thing down, and when I announced I was done Patricia looked mutinous.

"Do you mean to tell me that if you'd been in our room from the beginning we could've finished in _five. Minutes?_ "

I gave a small laugh. "Well we're not done yet are we? This was just the first step." I looked down at the notepad and read aloud. "Bricks three, five, fifteen, twenty-three, thirty-three, forty-seven, eighty-nine, ninety-four, one hundred and six, one hundred and ten, one hundred and eighty-four, one hundred and ninety-nine. Pull." I looked up expectantly. "Any ideas what bricks they're talking about?"

Still looking pissed off, Patricia pointed to the wall we'd come out of and I turned to see that it was like the wall in our room, except instead of a bookshelf, they had a wall of 200 numbered bricks. Fabian was already over there. "What was the first number again Nina?" he asked.

"Three."

Fabian had to stretch to reach it, but sure enough when he gave a pull on the brick with the number three written upon it, the brick popped out. Fabian turned it over and dumped a few gold colored pieces into his hand. "Put them over here," I patted the ground beside me.

Fabian dropped them on the ground and returned to the wall. "Guys help him out," I said, returning to my list. "Bricks five, fifteen, twenty-three."

I kept reading and the others quickly migrated over to the wall and the bricks were out in a matter of seconds, and we very quickly had a nice large pile of gold pieces of whatever-the-hell-they-were.

It was Amber who spotted it. Admittedly it was accidentally, but she still gets credit.

"Maybe we're supposed to fit them together into magic jewelry," Amber suggested.

No one seemed to be much in favor of this idea. "Magic jewelry?" If Patricia had ever before this moment uttered a sentence packed with more skepticism, I'd eat my bathrobe.

Amber shrugged. "Sure, why not. Nina's got her necklace, why can't the rest of us get one? Besides, we had necklaces last year remember? Look, these two fit together." She held up two pieces of gold that she had indeed clicked together, and Fabian suddenly sat up straight.

"Amber, you're a genius," he declared, before sifting through the gold pile.

"I know," she assured him. "What did I do?"

"It's not magic jewelry," Fabian said, looking up at us with his eyes alight. "It's a puzzle. We've got to fit the pieces together."

The excitement we had at figuring this out quickly wore down, as there were around sixty pieces and we had no clue how they were supposed to fit together or what we were supposed to be making. We each took seven or eight pieces and tried to fit them together and a tense silence filled the room as we worked.

It took us longer than we would've liked, and my hands were numb when we finished but at the end we had the second half of a giant key. Alfie stood reluctantly. "I'll go get our half," he volunteered.

"Thanks Alfie," I groaned, leaning back onto the floor.

Fabian laid down next to me. "What other half?"

I started cracking my knuckles to get the feeling back and told him how we had half a giant key in our room. Fabian made a noise of understanding before grabbing my hand and braiding our fingers together, causing my heart to skip a few beats. I turned my head so that I was facing him and nosed his shoulder, closing my eyes. "I've got a headache," I muttered.

"I'd fix it if I could." I could hear both the smile and sympathy in his voice, and it warmed me to know I'd grown to be able to read him so well. I used my other hand to trace his wrist and hid a small smile when I felt goose bumps form under my touch.

"Got it," Alfie announced, and I raised my head a few millimeters and opened my eyes to see him crawling back out before dropping my head and closing them again. "Ambs, toss me the other half." There was a few seconds pause and then – "Amber, stop taking pictures of Nina and Fabian and give me the other half of the key."

I jerked upright, tugging my hand away from Fabian, opening my eyes to indeed see Amber standing above us, taking pictures. "Amber!"

"What?" she said innocently. "You guys were being so adorable I just couldn't help it. You can use them in your scrapbook!"

I sighed in exasperation. "Amber, if I have told you once, I have told you a thousand times, I don't make scrapbooks! Relationship or otherwise." I leaned forward to grab the key off the ground and reached up to hand it to Alfie.

He thanked me before carefully fitting the two halves together. What happened next wasn't quite clear.

The entire key suddenly shone with a bright, blue light, and when it faded our half was no longer rusted and this half was no longer sixty different pieces. Instead the whole thing was a sleek, glossy black. "Wicked," said Patricia, sounding impressed.

"Hang on," Alfie said. "There's a button." He pressed something in the middle of the key and a bright blue light shot out the end of it. Frowning in confusion, he swung the light around when Joy suddenly yelled at him to stop.

"Put it back over there," she instructed, pointing at the back wall. The wall in question was the only wall that was entirely blank. Even the wall without bricks or numbers had torches and a single bookshelf they must have gotten the books off of. Alfie obliged, and the light illuminated the outline of a gigantic keyhole in the middle of it.

"No friggin way," complained Patricia as Alfie walked over. He tentatively edged the key into the hole, and when it passed through the wall he entered it the rest of the way and turned.

The key was sucked into the slot and we watched in awe as the entire wall slid apart to reveal nothing but darkness.

Alfie looked at Patricia, excitement and apprehension clear on his face. "Way."

 **Sorry about the crappy format issue guys, and thank you to the anon reviewer who let me know. I have fixed it!**

 **AN: Nina is totally a Harry Potter nerd, fight me. Disclaimer, I have never read _Anna Karenina_ and have no idea if all or any of those words are inside it. See you soon lovely readers.**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POV's you'd like to see.**


	16. Chapter 14: Patricia

**Patricia**

 **IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT. Quick question for my readers at the end of the chapter.**

When Nina and Eddie had described Nepthys, I feel like they may have overplayed her. They'd mentioned dark skin, blue braids and a lot of gold jewelry, but they had neglected to mention the angry red marks on her temples that looked suspiciously like bruises, as well as the way her clothes were a bit too big for her body.

The wall had slid apart in the last room to show only darkness, and we'd immediately fought over who was going first. Eventually Amber volunteered Alfie, and he reluctantly walked through, complaining loudly about how nobody loved him.

He'd let us wait in silence for a full thirty seconds before a panicked Amber called out for him at which point he laughed and said it was payback for making him go first. Afterwards we'd all stomped into the room, some like Nina and Amber overcome with relief, some like me intent on murder, only to be greeted with a blinding flash of light just like the last room.

When it died down, this time we were all in the same room. However, we weren't alone.

It was a small, cushy room, with a soft, rose colored light cast over the plush cushions scattered around the carpeted floor. In a chair in front of us reclined an absolutely gorgeous woman that Nina addressed as Nepthys. I eyed the woman critically. If we were supposed to save her, then did this mean we were done? We'd found her and now this ordeal was over? Something told me it wasn't going to be this easy.

"You are doing so well my children." She gave us a tired smile and gestured at the cushions. "Please, sit. We have much to discuss and very little time, for soon you will awake and I will be back in my prison."

We all glanced at each other before unanimously shrugging and picking a seat.

"You have no idea how grateful I am for all you are doing for me." Nepthys looked around at us. "Especially those not touched by gods of Egypt." Nina and Eddie shifted uncomfortably but if Nepthys noticed she ignored it. "I know you have many questions, but first you must know that after tonight you will not be able to come back here for a few weeks of your time."

"Why not?" asked Joy.

Nepthys waved a limp hand in the air before dropping it back onto the armrest. "The astral planes are shifting, and the barriers are about to close. You will not be able to enter this world, just as _she_ will not be able to pull you into it. Nor will either of us be able to appear to you."

"Who is she?" demanded Nina. "Are you talking about the woman who tortured me and Eddie?"

The woman nodded gravely. "It is she who holds me prisoner. She who is meant to watch over the realm of dreams, but has instead abandoned her sacred post in favor of power. She who betrayed me, imprisoned me, she who means to expand her reach to the farthest corners of the earth!" As she spoke, Nepthys sat up straighter and electricity seemed to crackle throughout the room as her voice steadily grew louder.

"Who though?" pressed Nina, and Nepthys immediately whirled on her.

"We do not speak the name of the traitor!" Nepthys cried, and Fabian reached a hand to cover Nina's as she flinched. Suddenly though, the fight went out of Nepthys and she slumped back into her chair. "Apologies, Chosen One. I do no mean to yell. These past weeks have been… difficult for me, cut away from the air and my sister, and you still have ways to go."

"What is she trying to do though?" asked Amber.

Nepthys pressed her hands to her temples. "She means to destroy the barriers between the worlds, she means to expand her reach."

"Yes but — "

"Silence!" Nepthys suddenly leapt from her chair, looking terrified. "She comes! Swift as the wind, dark as the night, she knows I have reached out to you and she is coming!" As she spoke, the walls began to shake.

Nepthys dove towards to Nina and grabbed her hands. "Is the Book safe, Chosen One? The Book of the Dead is it hidden? Protected?"

Nina nodded, looking alarmed. "Yes."

"You must keep it safe, her earthly servants mean to recruit the Protector's father, they mean to steal the Book of the Dead, you must protect it!"

"I _will_ ," Nina insisted.

The room started shaking even harder and Nepthys glanced towards the ceiling. "She is nearly here! Quickly, you must awaken! Now go!"

Nepthys waved her hands in some sort of motion and∞

∞I jerked upright, my eyes flying open, breathing hard. When my eyes adjusted to the darkness I saw that Joy was also awake and looking just as out of breath.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded.

Joy shrugged, wiped some sweat off her forehead and promptly flopped back down onto the pillows.

I frowned as I lay back down. Sure Joy was tired, but normally she'd at least want to discuss what had happened. Maybe it was because Mara was asleep right next to us and Joy didn't want to wake her?

But no, I realized suddenly. Joy had been acting strange for a while now. Snapping at me, spending most of her time either in school or alone somewhere, wanting to break into Mr. Sweet's office.

Hold on.

Wanting to break into Mr. Sweet's office.

Mr. Sweet's office had been broken into, when, the day after Joy told me she needed to get inside? I racked my brains, trying to remember if he'd said what had been taken, but I didn't think Mr. Sweet had ever given it a name.

A chill ran over me. Joy didn't take risks like that, and I certainly doubted Mr. Sweet would be acting the way he was for a single student's attendance record. Joy had only said she needed to adjust the records anyway, not take them.

What had she done?

I glanced at my alarm clock and groaned when I saw I still had an hour left before my alarm was due to go off. Sleep was no use now, not when I was berating myself for having not realized it was Joy sooner than this. What was so important that she'd break into Sweetie's office, _alone_ , risking serious punishment? Not her attendance record, that was for sure.

I lay awake in bed, tossing around and turning the problem over and over in my head, trying to figure it out. When the alarm finally went off my mind was exhausted, and I could already tell this was going to be an unproductive day.

* * *

"Hamlet is such an idiot."

Without looking up from his copy of the play Eddie replied, "He's the titular character of a Shakespeare play. There was a 99% chance he was either an idiot or an asshole. Given the choice I'll take the former, they're more fun to mock."

"Still," I groused. "How can they justify making us read an entire play about this guy? He knew from the beginning who killed his father, but because he didn't trust himself he had to go through this shitlong process of confirming it, getting like fifty billion other people killed as a result and eventually losing his country. Id. E. Otic."

Eddie waved a hand in my general direction. "I present to you, A Hamlet Summary, by Patricia Williamson."

"Don't try to pretend you're actually enjoying this crap," I snapped.

Eddie raised his face to mine with a pained expression. "How dare you. I happen to be a diehard Shake and Baker ever since the warm fall day of September 30, 2006, when my English teacher had the class do a live reenactment of _Romeo_ _and Juliet_. I was the guy who gave Juliet the poison. Changed my life."

I rolled my eyes. "You can't stand it."

"This unit cannot be done soon enough!" I laughed as a phone near my foot started playing the Imperial March.

I picked the phone up, checked the caller ID, and reached over to hand it to Eddie. "Please tell me you didn't make your dad's ringtone Darth Vader's theme song."

A muscle in his jaw twitched. "Ignore it."

I frowned. "It could be important."

"I said, ignore it."

My frown deepened but I tossed the phone back onto his pillow, letting it go to voicemail. I dearly wanted to return to our conversation of moronic sixteenth century characters, but Eddie's entire posture had shifted. Before, he had been sitting on the ground at the foot of his bed, legs splayed out and leaning back against the mattress, holding his book propped up on one of his knees, with the other hand at the back of his head. Now his back was rigidly straight, his knuckles white, and his entire body had seemingly tightened up. Feeling as though there was a good chance I would deeply regret the next words out of my mouth I braced myself before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?'

"No."

 _Leave it alone, leave it alone, leave it al –_ "We don't even have to talk. You could talk, and I could… listen."

"I'm good."

"Great." There was a bit of a tight, hot feeling in my chest that I ignored, turning back to _Hamlet_. It was none of my business anyway, I reminded myself. The atmosphere of the room had changed though, and there was a tense, charged silence to it. I was grateful Fabian was somewhere else.

After a few minutes of an increasingly strained silence Eddie sighed. "I'm struggling to come to terms with a few things."

My chest immediately loosened. "What sort of things?"

He was still staring at his book. "The kinds of things he and his 'society' did a few years ago that I only recently found out about."

With startling clarity, I suddenly recalled a conversation Eddie and I had had over the telephone early in July. I'd told him about Victor's group and their quest for immortality, how they'd abducted Joy and nearly made me think I was going crazy. I hadn't even mentioned his father was part of it till the end.

 _"That is some messed up shit," he laughed. "Who the hell did Victor even convince to join him?"_

 _"Let's see. There were seven of them. Victor, obviously. Some police officer, a nurse, Joy's dad — "_

 _"Joy's_ dad _?"_

 _"Well of course Joy's dad was a part of it. How else were they going to make her disappear without raising panic if neither of the parents knew about it?"_

 _"Fair enough. Who else?"_

 _"Um, Joy's dad, the history and drama teacher from two years ago Mr. Winkler, Mrs. Andrews — "_

 _"Mrs. Andrews?"_

 _"Would you stop repeating everything I say?" I demanded._

 _He laughed. "Sorry, sorry. Ok who else?"_

 _"Let me think." I counted off in my head. Mrs. Andrews made six, number seven… "Oh yeah, and your dad was a part of it also."_

 _There was a short silence on the other end of the phone. "My dad?"_

 _"Yeah, he was in on it from the beginning, he was the one who got Joy out of class and gave her to the others. Oh, and he also helped out Victor last year."_

 _There was a slightly longer silence on the other end of the phone. "Hey, Nina needs something, can I call you back?"_

 _I frowned. "What's Nina doing there?"_

 _"What? Oh, right, um. Long story short, her gran moved into a retirement home last week so Nina's spending the rest of summer with me. I'll call you later. Bye."_

 _I barely had time to get out my own goodbye before he hung up and I stared at the phone in bafflement. What had just happened?_

Looking back on it I nearly kicked myself. How could I have been so stupid? I _knew_ Eddie and his father had a fragile relationship, how could I have just dropped all of that on him with no warning?

"You mean those things I told you about."

He nodded, a jerk of a movement. "Yeah. To summarize, every time I look at him I have to fight back the urge to get a paternity test to make sure I'm really his kid."

I was overwhelmed with guilt. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. He and Mr. Sweet had been doing so much better at the end of last year, how could I have destroyed it like that? I tried to reason it away. His father had done some pretty horrible things, was it really so bad if I'd told Eddie about them? As his son, he had a right to know. "So what, you're just going to never talk to him again?"

He turned to me angrily. "Patricia, you were _kidnapped_ , and he very nearly did _nothing_ to help you."

I was taken aback. "I never told you about that."

"Yeah I'm aware. After you told me about what my dad did I had Nina fill in some of the blanks. And please," he held up a hand, "don't be mad at her. I convinced her I already knew most of it."

I bit my lip. "Eddie, look. Is your dad a saint? No. Yes, he made mistakes, but that's it." Eddie scoffed but I pressed on, unsure of why. "Look he screwed up is all, alright? Should he have done a bunch of stuff that he did? No. But you two were doing so much better, I don't want to be responsible for screwing that up."

"Responsible?" Eddie's face filled with disbelief. "Patricia, this has everything to do with my _father_ ," I nearly winced at the pure revulsion in his voice, "and _his_ actions. You didn't do anything other than tell me the truth."

That may have been the case but I still felt horrible. The feeling lasted with me the rest of the day and into the next until I couldn't stand it anymore and cornered Joy where she was doing homework in the laundry room.

"Ok I'm not going to ask what you're doing in here but I need to talk to you."

Joy glanced at me before returning her to calculus problems. "What's up?"

I took a breath. "I think I did something terrible."

Joy closed her notebook. "You'll have to be a little more specific."

I glanced toward the doorway. "Yeah, ok, but do you think we can go somewhere else?"

Joy shrugged and leapt lightly off the washing machine, following me into our room. Mara was currently deep in discussion with Fabian over the history assignment in the living room, so we probably had a good hour or so before she came back in.

"Patricia I don't understand the problem."

My jaw dropped. "What do you mean you don't understand the problem? Eddie hates his father and it's all my fault."

"No, it's Mr. Sweet's fault. Patricia, you didn't do anything wrong."

"I shouldn't have told him. Eddie's probably never going to speak to him again."

"Again Patricia, that's Mr. Sweet's fault. Not yours."

"How are you so calm about this?" I demanded. "I destroyed their relationship."

Joy sighed. "Patricia did you kidnap me?"

"What? No."

"Did you join a secret society chasing immortality and screw over anyone who got in your way?"

"No," I said suspiciously.

"Did you lie to your kid about it?"

"I don't have a kid!"

"Exactly," Joy said, as though that cleared everything up. "You didn't do anything. Eddie was going to find out sooner or later, especially if Sweetie eventually teams up with Victor and whoever that other lady was."

I'd nearly forgotten Eddie and I had told Joy about the conversation we overheard. We'd needed an extra set of ears and figured there was no way Joy of all people would possibly tell Nina. It hadn't come to anything though. Halloween was in four days and we still had no clue what they were planning. We'd originally planned to tell them a few days ago, but the younger French classes had taken about a dozen tests lately, and Nina had been running herself ragged trying to assist the teachers in addition to keeping up with her regular schoolwork. As a result, Eddie had convinced us to wait a little while. We planned to tell the others what we knew in about two hours, during a Sibuna meeting.

Shoving my guilt aside for now, I blew out a breath and gave Joy an appraising look. "I don't suppose you ever found out what they were talking about?" She shook her head and I scowled. "Wonderful. The others will all really enjoy the extra stress we're about to dump on them."

Joy shrugged and I took the opportunity to open up another conversation, simultaneously wondering what was wrong with me. "Hey Joy."

"Yeah?"

I hesitated. "Is… is everything all right?"

If I didn't know her as well as I did I would've missed the way her hand clenched in the covers before immediately relaxing. "Course it is. What are you talking about?"

"You've been acting…" I scrounged for a word. "Odd. You never do anything anymore, you don't talk to anyone." A short laugh escaped my throat. "For God's sake Joy, you're doing your homework in the _laundry room_. What's happening?"

She shook her head. Too quickly. I didn't know if anyone else would've caught the look of despair that briefly flashed across her face. "Nothing. Nothing's happening."

"Joy." I made a concerted effort to make my voice sound as gentle as possible. "I just want to help."

She glanced at the ceiling and when she looked back down at me her eyes were suddenly shining. "I'm going to get in so much trouble," she whispered.

I was taken aback. Joy normally had a tighter hold on her emotions than I did, except when it came to Fabian. But I had a feeling this had nothing to do with him. "Joy, is this about you breaking into Mr. Sweet's office?"

Her face went slack. "How did you know that was me?" she breathed.

In a great display of self-control I resisted rolling my eyes. "Joy, you asked me to get Eddie to help you break into his office. The very next day, someone broke into his office. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots."

Her breathing had turned very shallow. "I'm going to get in so much trouble," she repeated, tears starting to make tracks down her face. "I didn't even want to do it, he just did it, I didn't want to but he made me and now I'm going to get in so much trouble."

" _Joy_ ," I said in alarm, but before I could continue prodding the door opened and I spun around.

Trudy poked her head in the door. "Supper time lovelies, come on down."

She smiled and I turned back to Joy only to practically reel back in shock to see that Joy's face was suspiciously dry and she was grinning at Trudy. "Coming!" Joy slid to her feet and quickly headed out the door. Trudy gestured at me and I slowly slid to my feet, still trying to comprehend what had just happened. Joy probably wouldn't get in _that_ much trouble for breaking into Sweetie's office. A few weeks detention at most. Nothing worth getting terrified over. And who was this 'he' that had made her do it anyway?

When I reached the table Joy was making determined conversation with Jerome and so I sat at the end of the table between Eddie and Nina. Eddie grinned at me, having apparently not lost any sleep over yesterday's conversation, and promptly engaged me in a discussion of the bands 'Killers' versus 'Skillet'.

Once everyone had finished, we all gave each other looks and one or two at a time, all the Sibuna members headed up to Nina and Amber's room. A couple minutes after Alfie and Amber went up, Eddie and I, careful to keep talking lest Victor get suspicious, followed them.

Upon getting there we sat down next to Alfie, Amber, Fabian and Nina, all of us seeming to lose some tension in our muscles when Joy walked in without Victor right behind her. It had been a lot easier to sneak around when it was just four of us.

Nina, ever paranoid, did a quick check that no one had been getting sucked back into their dreams in the week since our last visit, seeming immensely relieved when all of our answers were unequivocal 'no's'. "Ok, now that that's out of the way, Eddie, you said you had something to tell us?"

She and the others turned expectantly towards Eddie who sat up. "A couple weeks ago, Patricia and I overheard a conversation between Victor, Mr. Sweet, and some other woman we didn't recognize. We've tried to find out more, but all we know is that they're planning something big for Halloween. We don't know what it is, just that they wanted Mr. Sweet's help with it."

"Also Victor seemed pretty stressed," I added. "So we're betting whatever it is it's important."

Nina had gone very still. "You've known about this for over a week now?" Eddie nodded, suddenly looking slightly terrified. "And you're just _now_ telling us this? _Now_ when Halloween is four days away?!"

"Erm, Nina?" Fabian placed a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder and her glare became slightly less furious. "Maybe ask why?"

Nina huffed before plastering on a tight smile. "Ok. Fine. Eddie. Patricia. What _demonic presence_ possessed the two of you to make you think this was in any universe a good idea?"

Fabian muttered that wasn't what he meant while Eddie held out his hands in supplication. "Nina. Come on. Have you looked in a mirror lately? Even without the tasks, you've still been stretching yourself pretty thin. We didn't want to add to the stress."

The scowl on Nina's face downgraded into a dissatisfied frown, and Eddie relaxed. I smirked. "You don't know anything else?" Fabian pressed.

Eddie opened his mouth but Amber cut him off. "Well it's obvious isn't it?"

We all turned to Amber in surprise. When she didn't elaborate Alfie gave her a gentle prompting. "What's obvious Ambs?"

Amber tossed her hair over her shoulder. "They're planning to steal the Book. There's that big Halloween party for the whole school, and as of Wednesday it's mandatory remember? Plus there's a bag search at the door to make sure we're not bringing anything we're not supposed to. Victor will have the house to himself and be able to search the place once we leave it, and thanks to Sweetie the teachers probably have orders to confiscate the Book if they find it. Damned if we do, damned if we don't."

We all stared at Amber until she grew impatient. "Oh come on people. Like I said. It's obvious."

"Amber," said Nina, "You are a — "

"Genius," the blonde smiled. "Yes. I know. But let's move onto the important things shall we? Like how we're going to hide the Book?"

For the next half an hour we tossed around ideas. Alfie was in favor of someone faking an illness and staying home with the Book under their bed. Fabian didn't like having just one person watching over it though, and it would be too much to hope that Victor wouldn't be suspicious if two of us suddenly came down with a mysterious illness.

It was Joy who came up with the solution. "What if we hid it there before the dance started?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "The party is in the auditorium. We can volunteer to help set up, and then on Halloween one of us can bring it to school with us and we hide it in the gym before we head back to our house to change. That way Victor won't find it in the house, and the teachers won't find it if they search us. And since the teachers only care what we bring into the dance, not out, we can just take it back to the house with us after."

"Brilliant," said Fabian, sounding impressed. "But who's going to hide it?"

Joy shrugged again. "I can do it."

I could almost feel the room hold its breath for the barest of seconds. "Ok, sounds like a plan," said Nina. I exhaled, grateful she hadn't challenged Joy. Not today. I was honestly impressed how well Joy was managing to keep it together, given how close she had been earlier to falling apart, but I didn't want to test her.

We sketched out a rough version of the plan before agreeing to fine-tune it tomorrow and heading off to our respective bedrooms.

I tried to get Joy alone at least five different times before bed, but she seemed to be making a concentrated effort to avoid being alone with me. Case in point, it was another two days before I managed to sneak up behind Joy while she was changing out her textbooks at her locker.

"You've been avoiding me," I accused.

Joy shut her locker and briefly leaned her head against it before turning to face me. "No I haven't."

"Joy," I deadpanned.

"Patricia," she mocked and I bit back a smile.

"Look, if you don't want to tell me what's going on, or who forced you to break into Sweetie's office, or even why you broke in, then that's fine. I just want to make sure you know that if you ever do want to talk, whenever you're ready, I'm ready to listen." I held my breath, hoping and praying I hadn't just made everything infinitely worse. Joy threw her arms around me and I stepped back in surprise before hugging her back. She quickly drew away though.

"If I come to anyone, you'll be first," she smiled. Joy hitched her bag higher up on her shoulder before heading over to history and I was about to follow after her before Eddie stepped into the spot where Joy had just been standing.

"What's up Yacker?" He grinned at me, leaning down to steal a quick kiss. I let him. He swung an arm around my shoulders, causing me to wonder how it was possible for me to be so calm, yet have my pulse be going so fast at the same time, and we started to walk to class.

"Nothing much. What's up with you?"

Eddie smirked. "Glad you asked. I have had an epiphany."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh really?" Eddie nodded sagely. "Dare I ask what it was about?"

"Well, you see, it was a fascinating moment. There I was, sitting in drama, ignoring the teacher and minding my own business, when all of a sudden I was struck with a vision!"

He paused and I rolled my eyes. "I can already tell I'm going to regret asking this, but tell me Eddie. What did you see?"

His smirk widened. "Why I saw you and me of course. Together. At the Halloween party." Pause. "In matching costumes."

" _No._ "

He pouted. "Oh come on!"

"Absolutely not."

"You haven't even heard my idea for the costumes yet!"

"You can go in a garbage bag for all I care, I'm not wearing one of those cheesy couples costumes."

"Pleassse?"

"Forget it."

"Patriciaaaa!"

"Never. Going. To happen."

Eddie was relentless. He kept at it all throughout history and French, whenever the teachers' backs were turned, and once we got back to Anubis he even roped Amber into it.

At half past eight they were both standing at the foot of my bed while I did my best to ignore the non-stop pleases, and I finally agreed just to shut them up.

"Oh my god!" I interrupted. "That's enough. Let me first just say that I hate you. Both of you. And second, we can go matching, but _I_ get to pick the costumes."

Eddie and Amber high fived as I hid a smirk. He had no idea what I was planning.

 **About the IMPORTANT thing. If any of my UK readers could message me, I have a couple questions about the country/school system. Also since I'm in America and sucky at research, I'd really appreciate if you could message me and help me out since I don't want to get it wrong. I promise not to be** **spoilery!**

 **AN: Well me oh my, what on _earth_ could be happening to poor little Joy? *laughs evilly*. You'll find out soon enough! Also, can I just say how goddamn excited I am for this next chapter?**

 **SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION.**

 **I know I normally tell chapters in one POV per chapter, but for the next chapter it's going to be titled Halloween, and it's going to be two (or three? Depends on how it breaks down) parts, each chapter told in multiple POVs. It will switch back and forth between multiple POVs at the drop of a hat, but fret not: I will identify who is narrating each time it switches.**

 **I have been looking forward to this chapter since I started writing this story, and have honed it to near perfection. At least that's my opinion. I'm excited to finally put it to paper and hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've loved imagining it. Although I should probably warn you, one of my favorite things to do is cause my characters immense pain and suffering. So that should probably tell you something about what you have to look forward to.**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.**


	17. Chapter 15: Halloween Part 1

**Halloween Part 1**

 **Mara:**

"I still can't believe it actually happened," I said, shaking my head as Jerome and I walked over to school.

Jerome laughed gleefully. "I've got my polaroid and camera phone ready. This night will last forever, both on the Internet, and on my bulletin board."

I fought back a giggle. " _Patricia Williamson._ In a _couples' costume_. I think Eddie's made her go soft."

Jerome laughed again and I felt irrationally proud. He used to laugh all the time with Alfie, it had been all he ever seemed to do. But the custody battle between his parents was taking its toll and he'd been acting out more and more lately. He'd racked up ten different detentions in all of two weeks, and he hardly ever laughed anymore, unless he was either with me or screwing around. I felt a strange mixture of privilege and sadness at the fact.

I noticed Jerome was looking at me and I dragged my mind back to the conversation at hand. "So, what do you think they'll go as? They went shopping in town yesterday but refuse to tell anyone."

"Actually, I heard Fabian knows," corrected Jerome.

"Which means Nina will know too by now, of course," I laughed. "How did Fabian find out?"

"Well he's roommates with Eddie, isn't he? Suspect it's hard to keep secrets."

I shrugged. "Fair point."

"Speaking of costumes." Jerome stepped in front of the doors, blocking my path.

"Jerome, we have to get to class."

"Eventually yes, but Mara please, I'm dying here. When am I going to get to see _your_ costume?" My boyfriend looked down at me with pleading eyes and I flashed him the evilest smile I could muster.

"I told you. You'll find out this evening when we head over to the party."

Jerome groaned and I laughed before stepping around him. Grabbing his hand in mine I linked our fingers together and tugged him through the doors into the hallway. We stopped by Jerome's locker to grab his books – I'd taken my science materials back to the house with me last night – and headed over to Sweetie's classroom.

I sighed as Jerome immediately went up to the chalk board and started writing out swear words in Latin. When Eddie came in and saw what he was doing, he chuckled and offered to be look out. Not much of the class understood the Latin but the few that did laughed, and when Eddie warned Jerome his dad was coming everyone hurried back to their seats. When Mr. Sweet entered we were all the perfect picture of innocence. Mr. Sweet didn't notice the chalkboard right away, he was reading something off a clipboard when he came in. I glanced over at Jerome nervously, only to see he looked entirely unperturbed. Shocking.

After our teacher took attendance he clapped his hands together. "Alright then. In honor of today's holiday of All Hallow's Eve, we are going to be doing lab work with this particular theme in mind." He picked up a piece of chalk and I held my breath. "There will be stations at most of the tables, a complete list of which can be found on the board." He turned around and froze. I seemed to have lost the ability to breathe. I didn't dare look at Jerome or Eddie. From where we were sitting I could see his eyes narrowing as they scanned the writing, before he sighed and turned around.

Sweetie laughed dully and turned around, idly scratching at his temples. "Very funny, very funny. However, _tempus et locus_ , students. Time and place. I don't suppose anyone wants to tell me who did it?"

He looked around the classroom hopefully. Of course, everybody knew who did it, but nobody said anything. Mr. Sweet frowned and turned to me. "Miss Jaffray?"

My mouth suddenly turned very dry and I sat up straight. "Yes?"

"You're always in class early. Did you see it?"

I cleared my throat. Then I cleared it again, still not daring to look at either Sweetie's son or my boyfriend. "I-I think it was there when I came in sir, but I was reading so I'm not really sure. Sorry."

Mr. Sweet sighed, appearing resigned and picked up the eraser. "We'll call it the spirit of the holiday and, just let it slide, shall we?" he suggested, before clearing the board and lifting the chalk.

I quickly glanced to my right to see Jerome frowning. "Strange," he murmured. "I thought for sure that would have had him up in arms."

"Please don't tell me you wanted detention," I muttered just as quietly.

He snorted beneath his breath. "Course not. But some recognition would be nice."

I would've said more but Sweetie started talking and so I started paying attention. He listed out the stations as he wrote them out, and the materials on top of all the desks started making a lot more sense.

Jerome and I spent most of our time with Alfie and Amber at the slime table, using glue, borax powder and food coloring. Jerome and Alfie made gloves out of it and they were laughing together and goofing off and it felt like I had stepped into a time machine and been transported back to three years ago years ago.

The entire school seemed to be buzzing with excitement for the party tonight, with the notable exception of most of our housemates. "You'd think they'd cheer up a little," Jerome muttered. He was currently frowning at Eddie, Patricia, Nina and Fabian who were gathered around a locker having hushed discussion. "It's Halloween for god's sake. Even Joy's out of sorts, and she's normally up for a good time unlike Rutter the Wet Blanket."

I thought about mentioning how Joy had gotten a text this morning that had nearly made her throw up, but decided it was neither his nor my business and instead gently grabbed him by the arm. "Fabian is not a wet blanket Jerome."

He snorted. "Please. He makes used towels look like they just got out of the dryer."

I started to explain how I viewed him more as a straight edge than a wet blanket as the bell rang for fourth period, but Jerome got a phone call and when he checked the caller ID, his entire body changed to that of someone undergoing immense suffering. Jerome flipped the phone open and I put my hand in his, running my fingers across his knuckles the way I knew calmed him down as he listened to the man on the other end of the phone.

After a few minutes, the halls were mostly empty and on some level I recognized that we were going to be late to class if we didn't hurry but I stayed with Jerome until he hung up and leaned his head against the locker nearest to him. "Was it the lawyer?" I asked gently.

Jerome heaved a sigh as the second bell rang and turned around so that the locker was propping him up. If I didn't know any better I'd say that the metal against his back and my hand in his were the only things keeping him standing.

He dragged a hand down his face and I gave his other hand a squeeze. "They've set a court date."

To say he said it would be wrong. He didn't _say_ anything, the words seemed to forcibly drag themselves out of him one by one, each taking a tiny piece of his soul as it went. There wasn't anything I could say to make it better so I simply stood up on my tip toes and draped my arms around him, pulling him as close to me as I could. I felt his arms wrap tightly around me, hands landing on the small of my back. When Jerome eventually drew away he had a deadened look in his eyes that I couldn't stand to see.

"You know," I teased, desperate to get him smiling. "It would be a lot easier to hug you if you weren't so tall."

He offered up a half-hearted smirk and I clung to it with all of my limited strength. "It'd also be a lot easier if you weren't so short. Dwarf."

"Giant."

"Flea."

" _Flea_?" He laughed and I scowled before a mental lightbulb ignited above my head. "What would you say if I told you I could fix it?"

I raised my eyebrows and bit my lip and he cocked his head. "What exactly did you have in mind Jaffray?"

I let a small smile bloom across my mouth, glancing to see if anyone was still in the hall before taking his hand again and tugging him over to the janitor's closet. We normally snuck in here between periods for a quick make-out session, but this time I had something a little extra in mind. We slipped in and I shut the door behind us, dropping my bag and turning to see him do the same.

"So, care to enlighten me on how you're going to, 'fix it'?"

I honestly had no idea if this was going to work but I couldn't stand to see him with that dead look in his eyes so I closed my eyes for a half second, sent up a brief prayer, and smiled. With no warning, I placed my hands on his shoulders and jumped, hooking my legs around him and crossing my ankles right above his waist. Good thing for me he had good reflexes and his hands immediately went under my thighs, causing my pulse to accelerate to unhealthy levels. I could see his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. "Mara," he said thickly, voice catching, but I didn't give him the chance to talk further before I brought our lips together.

Kissing Jerome was like I was tinder someone had suddenly set ablaze. Everything in me ached, my chest, my hands, my teeth with the inexplicable need to get him _closer_. I ran my hands through his gorgeous hair, feeling the strands pass between my fingers, opening my mouth and letting his tongue sweep in, the maple syrup taste he always seemed to have turning my brain to fog. I ran a hand along the back of his neck and pulled away from his mouth, angling my head so that I could place quick, hot kisses along his jaw, his cheekbones, the juncture where his neck met his shoulders. I became aware of him repeating a single word over and over and tried to simultaneously decipher what he was saying and drag my lips beneath his ear. When I realized what he was saying I nearly fell backwards out of his grip. Just my name. Mara. Again and again he whispered it, as though he was dying and it was a prayer to God. "Mara. Mara. _Mara_."

No one had ever said my name like that before. I ignored the sudden tightness in my throat and moved my mouth back to his, kissing him harder as his hand slid up, under my shirt, all the way up to brush over my shoulder blades and I smiled against his lips. "I don't quite think we have time for that," I breathed.

Suddenly he froze. "Mara what time is it?"

I ignored him, planting more kisses. He withdrew his hand and glanced over my shoulder at his watch as I tried not to feel insulted. "Mara, we have government right now!"

"But this is so much more fun," I insisted, continuing to kiss him.

It seemed to physically pain him to do it, but he made to set me down and I reluctantly unwrapped my legs. "Mara Jaffray, you have a near perfect attendance record. You have never voluntarily missed a class in your life. We're going to government."

I raised my eyebrows. "When did we switch places," I teased, as I picked my bag up from the ground and fixed my hair.

Admittedly, we got to class ten minutes late, and, admittedly, Nina muttered to me out of the corner of her mouth that my lipstick was smeared, but for the next few hours Jerome seemed to forget about the upcoming court appointment. The deadened look had left his eyes, and after school was out as we were walking back home with the others, he even put some slime he'd saved from science down the back of Alfie's shirt, causing his friend to chase him all the way back, Jerome's laughter ringing out. And, admittedly, that was worth all the tardies in the world.

 **Eddie:**

"I still can't believe you got Patricia to do a couples' costume."

I hid a smirk as I pulled a ripped and bloodstained tee shirt over my head. "It's all part of my charm."

Our backs were to each other as we changed but I could practically feel my roommate roll his eyes. "Is that the charm of the crumbs you leave all over our room that I have to clean up, or the charm where you take three days to do two loads of laundry?"

"All of the above," I replied breezily, now smearing fake blood on my hands. "But enough about me and Patricia," I teased. "What about you and Nina?"

'What about me and Nina?' I mouthed as Fabian immediately replied, "What about me and Nina?"

I shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. How are things between you two? You in synch? On the same page? Do you have matching Facebook statuses?"

"Yes, yes, and Nina doesn't have Facebook."

"Right, right. Forgot about that."

We continued changing – I was now putting on a pair of jeans that looked as though they'd been attacked by a pack of denim-eating wolves – and Fabian suddenly asked "Hey Eddie."

"Hey Fabian."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"No, your costume doesn't make you look fat."

His sigh was audible across the room. "Never mind."

I decided to take pity on him. "Hey come on man. Talk to me. What's up?"

He was silent for a few seconds before talking. "If a girl wants to… but you're not ready to…" At this point I was both hooked and a little bit apprehensive and so I waited for him to keep going. "What do you do if you're in a relationship and you want to slow things down?"

"Depends on how slow." I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying this the _teensiest_ bit.

Fabian huffed out an exasperated breath. "If the girl wants to do, certain things. And, you aren't ready, for those, certain things. How do you tell the girl that you're still into her even if you don't want to do those things?"

"Ok first off can we just acknowledge that you is you and the girl is Nina? Awesome. Moving on, just tell Nina that however much you care about her, whatever she wants to do isn't something you're ready for. If she really wants to be with you she'll probably understand that."

" _Probably_?"

"I am by no means a relationship expert. Honestly dude, you'd probably be better off going to Amber."

"If I ask Amber about anything the entire house will know by Friday. I ask her about this and the entire school will know by tomorrow," he said flatly and I laughed.

"Fair point. Look man. I can't give you the greatest advice but so long as you're coming to me? Just be honest with her."

There was a few seconds of silence and then

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." I rubbed dirt across my cheeks and tried to let it go but eventually my curiosity won out. "So. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly does Nina want to do?"

A brief pause ensued before he answered. "Well, I mean, she hasn't explicitly said anything. I just sort of get the feeling she's ready for… 'it' you know?"

"What you mean sex?"

"… Yes."

"Wait, you mean you two haven't…"

"No."

I gave a low whistle. "Why not? Bad experience?" I could relate.

He didn't answer and I jerked my head around to face him so fast I nearly got whiplash. "Wait. _No_ experience?" He didn't answer again and my eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me. A seventeen-year-old male virgin?"

"So what if I am?" Fabian still wasn't facing me so I couldn't see his expression but he sounded defensive and I immediately moved to placate him.

"So nothing. Good for you."

Now he turned to face me. "Good for me?"

I shrugged, turning away again to tie my shoes. "Yeah. I mean, I'm not saying everyone should wait until marriage or whatever, but if we're being honest? I kind of wish I'd waited too."

"Bad experience?"

I fought against the rush of memories that welled up, forcing them into a thick steel chest and sending them far, far away. "You could say that."

"Well what would you say?"

I gave a bitter smile, grateful he couldn't see my face. "Bad experience." Before he could continue pressing I slapped my hands onto my knees. "Alrightie then. I have now reached my emotional conversational quotient for the day, if you would like to continue this discussion the earliest possible start time is 12:01 AM November first."

I stood up off the bed and turned to face Fabian and my entire face screwed up in confusion. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?" I demanded. He was wearing a suit that looked like it belonged in America in the 1920s.

"I'm Edwin Hubble," he said, like it should be obvious. I simply stared at him. "Edwin Hubble," he repeated. "Famous American astrologer? Discoverer of Hubble's law?"

I walked over to clap a hand on his shoulder. "Just say you're a gangster. It'll get more laughs."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah? And what are you supposed to be?"

I gave a wolfish grin and spread my arms out so he could see my costume in all of its ripped up, bloody glory. "I'm a serial killer of course."

Fabian grabbed a pipe from his bed and we walked over to the living room where Joy, Alfie, and Jerome were already ready. Alfie had on a sort of brown jumpsuit thing that was decked out in some mossy substance, along with twigs taped to his shirt. If I remembered correctly, he was a forest troll and Amber was a forest fairy or something. I had no idea what Joy was going as, seeing how she was clad only in black leggings and a long-sleeved purple sweater, but when I saw Jerome I started laughing so hard I nearly fell over and had to grab the chair for support.

He'd apparently used massive amounts of hair gel to slick it back into something resembling Brad Pitt. He had a ruffled white shirt, crisp black pants, a black coat and a long blood-red cape. When he smiled smugly I saw that he had fake vampire's teeth. The other four watched as I laughed so hard I nearly cried. I didn't understand how I was the only one who could find this funny and I told them so. "How am I the only one who finds this funny?" I demanded, gasping for air.

"Well _I_ think he looks handsome." We turned to see Mara and I nearly fell over again. I wasn't the only one. Fabian looked as though he'd had a heart attack. Jerome, on the other hand, looked as though Christmas had come early.

Mara was dressed in a short, pleated blue skirt, a matching blue crop top with a giant, sparkling, silver 'M' emblazoned on the front, carrying matching pom poms, and had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and tied with a blue ribbon.

"Jesus Mara," Alfie said, sounding impressed. "You could've warned us you were hot."

Mara smiled shyly and walked over to sit with Jerome. The six of us chilled in the living room and ate candy from the bowl on the coffee table as Trudy took pictures and Joy obsessively checked her phone.

A couple minutes later Nina came in and I frowned in confusion. I wasn't the only one. She was wearing jeans, a gray tee shirt with the word 'REJECT' stamped across it in bright red, her hair had been teased to add more curl and her makeup was heavier than normal.

"I don't get it," Alfie complained.

Nina grinned and gestured to the tee shirt. "I'm an All-American Reject," she explained, sounding quite proud of herself.

I laughed and we high-fived before she walked over to Fabian.

"Go ahead Fabian, tell her what you are," I grinned.

"I'm Edwin Hubble," he said, sounding excited.

Nina's expression was momentarily blank and then her face lit up. "Oh, the guy who invented the Hubble telescope?"

Fabian beamed. "It was named after him, but he didn't invent it. He was an American astronomer from 1889 to 1953, and the Hubble telescope wasn't launched until 1990. Did you know that he —"

"Fabian," interrupted Alfie. "I'm going to save you the trouble. No one knows, and no one cares."

Nina dragged him over to the couch, assuring him that _she_ cared, and to tell her more about Edwin Hubble, and other stuff that nearly gave me cavities. Patricia and Amber weren't down for another twenty minutes, but I passed the time by trying to see how many jolly ranchers I could fit in my mouth.

The last two members of our house entered the living room together, which was shocking in itself because Amber normally liked to make grand entrances. The blonde in question was dressed in a scarily short green dress with yellow flowers emphasizing her cleavage. Her hair was done into a thousand tiny curls and she had golden glitter artfully smeared all over her body, from her carefully arranged curls to her small brown wedges. Alfie looked thunderstruck.

However sexy Amber's fairy costume might be however, I preferred Patricia's. Dressed in her regular short skirt and tight shirt, the effect was enhanced by the blood stains covering most of her body, complemented by her messy hair. My favorite part was the bloody line across her neck.

"Patricia?" Fabian sounded cautious. "What exactly are you?"

Patricia grinned manically. "Eddie's a serial killer. I'm his victim." She gave a small bow before coming over to sit next to me as I finished cleaning out the jolly ranchers that hadn't dissolved.

"I tried to convince her to be my sexy parole officer but she wouldn't go for it," I added. Patricia smacked me on the arm before sitting down next to me, only to immediately rise back up as Trudy insisted on getting pictures of all the couples.

When I was ten I'd stopped dressing up for Halloween and my mom wasn't really one to take pictures, so for a while I enjoyed Trudy's fussing. But it got old pretty fast. First, she wanted individual photos, and then photos of everyone who was dating, and then photos of the individuals who were dating, and then friends, and then a whole group shot. We did smiling photos, serious photos, goofy photos, and every other kind of photo known to man. By the time she was done the sun was beginning to set and we were all practically fighting to get out the door. She might not have let us go at all if Victor hadn't intervened.

"What is this?" our housemaster demanded. None of us had heard him enter the living room, and so a fair amount of jumping ensued.

"Oh, Victor," Trudy beamed. "The kids are just about to head off, I was only getting some photographs."

"The party started half an hour ago, they are all supposed to be there by now." There was a brief silence as we all wondered what to do before Victor scowled and started making shooing motions. "Hurry up! Away with you!"

We all rushed for the door, struggling to get out, yelling in exultation as we ran across the lawn. The sun was just sinking beneath the horizon, setting everything on fire. Our feet sped across the lawn as we hurried to get to the party. Later. Later, we could worry about our dreams and the Book and Victor and my dad. But right now, we were running across the school grounds, Patricia next to me and the others surrounding me. Right now, we were young and triumphant and invincible. It was a feeling in the air that everyone felt but no one said, the feeling that you only have a couple of your highest points in life, those points where the world is yours for the taking.

Right now, we were kings.

Later tonight, wondering where it all went wrong, we'll realize we should have known it was the calm before the storm.

 **Nina:**

When we got to the dance Ms. Abbott saw that we had no bags and impatiently waved us through. "You're late," she said, in the voice of the long-suffering.

"Our housemother wanted to take pictures," Mara explained.

Ms. Abbott made a face that indicated she didn't care and we all hurried into the room. The decorating committee had really done a number on the place. We'd decided that Joy should be the only one to help out, and since I hadn't had a chance to check up on the tiny girl I was anxious to find her.

Fabian seemed to anticipate this however and steered me straight onto the dance floor.

"Neither of us can dance," I reminded him, talking louder than normal to be heard over the music.

He raised his eyebrows in challenge and I half-smiled half-sighed, letting him take my hands. Obviously, the teachers had chosen the music, but my guess was they'd had some help from a couple of the students, because every so often songs like 'Monster Mash' were interrupted by 'Heads Will Roll', or Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'.

After about an hour of drinking and dancing though, I was determined to find Joy and get the book safely back in my possession and I told Fabian this.

Fabian gripped my hands tighter. "One more song?"

I laughed. "I'll be back as soon as I find her. Help me look?"

Fabian sighed, but nodded, and headed off one way while I went the other. I ducked past people, catching glimpses of my friends as I made it to the edge of the dance floor. Mara and Jerome were dancing so exuberantly that the other students had cleared a space around them. Amber was doing something sexy that made her short dress rise dangerously high, while Alfie just sort of moved his feet back and forth and glared at any guy that got within ten feet of her. Grim-faced teachers were patrolling the crowd with flashlights, interrupting couples who were too close together.

I finally made it to the edge and saw Patricia and Eddie taking refuge by the punch bowl. From the looks of it he was trying to convince her to dance. She seemed like she was having too much fun refusing though, so I didn't think they'd reach an agreement anytime soon.

I headed over. "Have either of you seen Joy?"

Patricia frowned. "I think she's at one of the tables, she said she wasn't feeling that great."

"She looked it too," Eddie chimed in. "Hey, do either of you know what her costume is?"

"Uh, she's a face-palm emoji? Duh," said Patricia.

I laughed, partly to hide how tense I was. "Well if you see Joy tell her I'm looking for her?" I turned before I thought better of that statement. "Actually, tell her Fabian's looking for her."

They laughed, only theirs were much more genuine, and I headed over to the tables. I finally managed to spot Joy in a heated looking conversation with Monsieur Duval. I was about to go over but I hesitated. He already had it in for me. Also Joy didn't seem to be enjoying herself, which was another reason not to interrupt.

I really did need to know where she'd hidden the Book though.

I sighed, mentally bracing myself, and walked over. When Joy saw me her entire face lit up and she waved at me. I frowned, thinking she must be looking at someone else. But when I checked behind me no one was there. When I arrived at the table I was just in time to catch the tail end of their conversation. "So you see Monsieur Duval, I am very sorry but I did promise Nina I'd hang out with her tonight, you understand of course."

Whether or not he understood I didn't find out because Joy promptly hooked her arm through mine and led me away to another table. She blew out a breath and seemed to shake an enormous weight off her shoulders. "Thanks for that Nina."

I blinked. Then I pinched myself. Hard. "Did you just thank me?"

She laughed breathlessly, glancing around. "We'll call it a fluke and move on. What's up?"

I shrugged off my confusion and refocused. "Right, sorry. Where'd you put the Book?"

Joy blinked. "The Book?"

I felt my fingers grow cold. "The Book, Joy," I tried to jog her memory. "The Book you were supposed to have hidden under a table or something. The Book Victor and Sally and possibly Mr. Sweet want, the Book I'm begging you to tell me you didn't leave at the house right now."

Joy swallowed. "Nina, I am so sorry —"

"Are you kidding me right now?" A laugh choked out of me in disbelief. "Tell me you're kidding me right now."

Joy opened her mouth as Fabian suddenly popped up next to us. "There you are Joy. Where'd you hide the Book?"

Joy opened and closed her mouth, looking petrified.

"I'll tell you where she put it," I said, my voice so scathing I almost didn't recognize it. "Nowhere. She hid it, _nowhere_ , because she forgot it at the house, which means Victor is possibly finding it right at this moment."

"Nina I'll go and get it." Joy looked miserable but right now I didn't care. "I'll go get it right now."

"No, _I'll_ go get it," I snapped. "I think you've done enough for one night." I was about to turn away when I sighed impatiently. "Joy, how could you forget this? The plan was your idea."

She gave a small nod, seeming to shrink into herself. "I got distracted this morning, and I just, I just forgot, Nina. I forgot, I'm sorry."

"Yeah sorry doesn't cut it this time." I blew out a breath and turned to Fabian. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

I started to walk towards the exit but Fabian grabbed my wrist.

"Nina, wait. Do you want me to come with you?"

I smiled tersely. "I think I can manage thanks."

"Ok wait, let's at least check with the others first? Make sure no one else brought it?"

"Joy was supposed to bring it," I snapped.

"Just in case," he said. "Nina please? For me?"

I scowled. "Fine. Go grab Alfie and Amber, Joy and I will go wait with Patricia and Eddie."

Fabian beamed at me and ducked back into the crowd. I glared at Joy before gesturing at her. "Come on Joy let's go."

We made our way over to a still arguing Patricia and Eddie who turned to us in surprise. "What's up guys? Where's the Book?"

Joy suddenly became very interested in the floor. "She forgot," I bit out.

Patricia's eyes widened. "Oh, _shit_ ," exclaimed Eddie. I felt that summed up the situation quite nicely. At that moment an irate looking Alfie and Amber joined us.

"Joy how could you forget?" demanded Amber. "We trusted you!"

Joy buried her face in her hands and a small part of me felt bad but I ignored it. She had screwed up. It was good that she recognized it. "So I take it no one else brought it?"

There was a general shaking of heads and a good deal of glares and exasperated looks thrown at Joy. "What do we do now?" asked Alfie.

" _We_ ," I answered, "are going to do nothing. _I_ , on the other hand, am going back to the house. I'll tell Victor I ate a bad cupcake or something."

"Are you sure you don't want anyone to come with you?" checked Amber.

I flashed her a tight smile. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Fabian was frowning. "Nina, I don't like it."

I did my best to look reassuring. "No one likes it but that doesn't change the fact that it has to be done."

"I'm with Fabian on this one," interjected Eddie. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

I rolled my eyes. "Guys. Come on. It's not like Sally's about to jump out at me from inside a locker. I'll be fine. Back before you know it."

I started walking over and Fabian followed. "Nina, wait. Just…" he sighed and leaned forward to give me a quick kiss. "Just be careful, ok?"

I smiled and leaned forward to give him a slightly longer kiss. He tasted like the frosting from the cupcakes we'd eaten. I drew back and brought my finger up to gently trace his lips. "I'm always careful," I teased, before stepping around him.

I headed as quickly as I could over to where Mr. Taylor was standing guard at one of the doors. I tried to just open one but he blocked me. "I'm sorry Miss Martin, but the doors remain locked until midnight, you know the rules."

I gave him my best uncomfortably apologetic face. "Right, I know, and I'll be right back, I promise, I just have to take care of something."

He seemed unmoved. "May I ask what?"

I gave what I hoped was a convincing sigh and glanced around. "I have to go to the bathroom and change real fast. It's that time of the month."

Mr. Taylor promptly did a very remarkable imitation of a statue as he stood there staring at me with his mouth slightly open. I waited a few seconds before gesturing to the door. "Ok so I'm just gonna go then." He made no move to stop me and so I shoved open the door and ducked into the hallway, feeling smug. I'd become much better at lying over the years. Whether or not that was something to be proud of was another matter. The hallway quickly sent chills down my body and I wrapped my arms around myself. Why hadn't I thought to bring a jacket? Quickest way to the house was through the door next to the science classroom, on the other side of school, so that was where I headed.

 **Alfie:**

"Joy really screwed up this time huh baby?" Amber, who was currently checking her hair in the reflection of a spoon, didn't seem to hear me at first. "Ambs?"

"Yes, Alfie, I heard you. Joy screwed up, and now Nina's panicking, Fabian's worried about Nina, and I'm worried Nina panics too much. Do you think I should've gone for the blue eyeshadow instead of the gold?"

My girlfriend turned to me and blinked her gorgeous eyes very slowly and I stuttered. She laughed before pulling me in for a quick kiss, touching our foreheads together. I wished this night could last forever. I didn't care what my parents said, I was never willingly leaving this girl.

 **Amber:**

I let Alfie go and turned back to my reflection, before casting a regretful glance at the snacks table. Trudy had helped out with some of the cupcakes and so I knew the chocolate ones were bound to be amazing. On top of that they were _so_ pretty, frosted over in bright orange and doused in edible sparkles. Alfie noticed my staring and beamed at me. "I'll go get you one Ambs."

I should've stopped him. No. No, I reminded myself. I should not have stopped him. This was perfectly all right. I hadn't eaten much since lunchtime, I reminded myself. I'd had a small supper. I was allowed a cupcake. What my mother may or may not have thought about it didn't matter. I kept repeating it to myself like my therapist had taught me and by the time Alfie returned I was almost convinced it was true. When I bit into the delicious chocolate cupcake, I didn't feel any guilt at all.

 **Joy:**

I dared a small glance up from my seat of shame, to the rest of the table that Sibuna minus Nina had commandeered. No one was glaring at me and I felt my muscles relax the tiniest bit. I buried my fingers in my hair. Just that _text_. It had driven everything completely out of my mind. I checked my phone again for the hundredth time, no matter the text was engraved into my eyelids.

 _Now that I know the taste of your lips, how much longer must I wait to taste the rest of you? Perhaps some pictures of what is to come would tide me over._

 _Xoxo_

 _Your secret admirer_

I choked back a bitter laugh. Secret admirer. As if I didn't know exactly who he was. I'd managed to avoid him all throughout class, and I hadn't replied to the text. I just didn't know how much longer I could hold out.

I folded my arms on top of the table and buried my head in them. I just wanted this night to end.

 **Patricia:**

I glanced at a miserable looking Joy and sighed before placing a hand on her back. The effect was instantaneous. She jumped like she'd been electrocuted, jerking her head up at a speed that probably gave her whiplash.

"Down girl," I said cautiously. "Joy it's just me."

Joy exhaled a shaky breath before resuming her earlier position. Tentatively, I placed a hand on her back again. When she didn't freak out I rubbed soothing circles on her back, marveling at how quickly this night had gone off the rails.

 **Eddie:**

"So Patricia."

She turned from staring at Joy in concern to staring at me in apprehension and I inwardly smirked at the change. "What?"

"How about when Nina gets back, you give me one dance."

Patricia smirked. "I'm sorry, how many times have we been over this?"

I gave her my best pleading face. "Come on Patricia, please? Just one dance."

I saw her hide a smile before she shook her head. "I'm not dancing with you."

I puffed up my cheeks and blew out a long stream of air. "Well that's a crying shame. I was looking forward to trying out my robot. However I guess if I can't dance with you all night."

She waited for me to finish and when I didn't she hit me. "What?"

I leaned forward and raised my eyebrows in challenge. "Well I guess I'll just have to kiss you all night."

Patricia laughed. "Yeah ok, good luck with that."

"Oh, I don't know. I rather fancy my chances." And I promptly leaned in to capture her lips with my own.

 **Jerome:**

"Yes Mara!" I raised my arm and she spun underneath it as I laughed. Right now, here, with her, it was easy to forget all the shit going on. I still couldn't believe she'd actually dressed up as a cheerleader. I tore my eyes away from her and glanced around the room. I saw the Scooby gang sitting at a table. I frowned. Something was off. I did a brief head count and saw that Nina was missing. I sighed. That girl attracted trouble the way Amber attracted boys – in droves, all of it begging for her attention.

Right now, however, they weren't my problem. Smiling I resolved to later convince Alfie to dump salt in the punch bowl, before turning back to Mara as she pressed her body up close to mine, warm and soft under my touch. I closed my eyes, wanting to savor this moment. Ever since I'd got together with Mara I'd been waiting for the karmic other shoe to drop. I just prayed I got to hold onto her for a little while longer. Maybe if she knew how much she meant to me.

 **Mara:**

The DJ had shifted moods and turned on a creepy, drawling mix. It wasn't very much fun to dance to, but it sure made for a good excuse to cozy up to Jerome without the teachers running over screaming 'make room for Jesus!' To be fair not all of the teachers did that, but the ones that participated did so with vigor and zest they seemed far too old for.

I twisted my fingers into his cape and tugged his head down so that his ear was level with my mouth. "You want some punch?" I asked.

Jerome nodded, seeming strangely amused by that request, and we headed over to the table. He poured two cups, one for him and one for me. I laughed as we clinked them together. "Here's to us Mara." I drank but when I put my now empty cup down I saw he hadn't touched his.

"I thought you wanted punch," I laughed. Jerome gave a small smile and I suddenly felt as though something was about to happen. Slowly, keeping eye contact with me the whole time, Jerome refilled my cup. He took my hand in his, opened the fingers and placed the cup into it. We clinked our glasses again and this time I held my breath when he raised his drink in toast. "Here's to being young and in love."

 **Fabian:**

I kept glancing at the door Nina's curly head had disappeared through. She'd barely been gone five minutes and I was already jumping to worst case scenarios. _She'll be fine. She'll be_ fine. _Yeah right. Maybe if you say it enough times it'll be true. She'll. Be. FINE._

At this point I decided to stop having a conversation with myself and turned to see the music stop as Mr. Sweet draw the attention of the room.

"Attention everyone! I am pleased to announce the judges have finished their deliberations for the winners of the costume contest. When I call your name, please join me on stage. Now, let's get started!" He clapped his hands together.

Everyone froze and sat up straight. But not because Mr. Sweet's hand clapping had suddenly earned our undying attention. Instead because it hadn't sound like he'd clapped his hands together at all, and everyone knew it.

It had sounded like a gunshot.

And a second.

And a third.

 **AN: gasp! Am I really evil enough to leave you on a cliffhanger like that? Did someone really bring a gun to school? Did I really update twice in less than five days?**

 **Answers yes, wait and see, and yes again. I'm updating so quickly because in less than two hours I'm leaving for Los Angeles, because I'm starting college on the 29** **th** **and tomorrow is move-in day. Also big shout out to my two UK readers who shall remain anonymous who are helping me out with UK stuff. I'll update as soon as I can with** **Halloween Part 2** **! Also quick request? I'm currently at 141 reviews, which makes me so happy I love you all. Let's see if I can't get to 150 by the time part 2 is ready? Thanks!**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.**


	18. Chapter 16: Halloween Part 2

**Halloween Part 2**

 **Slight tw: someone gets shot.**

 **Eddie:**

A large part of my brain was still struggling to comprehend what had happened. Three loud cracks had sounded through the air, like a broom handle repeatedly snapping in half. We all knew what it was, whether through action movies or crime shows or traumatic events, but no one seemed to be able to admit it. Hushed voices were sounding through the room, people too afraid to talk louder. There had been a good deal of screaming at first before the teachers managed to herd everyone to the walls, cover any windows into the room and kill the lights. No one seemed to know what was happening, but everyone knew one thing, was painfully conscious of it:

Someone had brought a gun to school.

 **Nina:**

There weren't a whole lot of benefits to my early school years, but growing up in America, you know what to do if someone brings a gun onto campus. I'd run down the hall, going from door to door, frantically trying to find one that was unlocked, nearly collapsing from relief when a handle twisted and I practically fell inside the classroom. I shut the door as quietly as I could behind me, trying to make sense of things.

Gunshots.

Someone had brought a gun to school.

I glanced around and realized I was in the science lab. The only classroom in the building that had translucent windows instead of walls. I glanced around. Whoever had pulled the trigger, they were nearby. The gunshots were too loud for them not to be. Could I hide under a desk?

My ears were straining in the silence and I froze as I picked up footsteps. Not the desperate, hurried footsteps of a student running away. The slow, measured footsteps of a person looking for someone they know can't escape. I darted away from the door and my eyes alit on the supply closet. I ran over as quickly as I could, trying to be quiet and hid inside, sliding down to the floor, struggling to breathe as I ran my fingers over my locket. I was going to be fine. I was going to be fine. They probably didn't even know where I was.

I heard a door open and my heart stopped beating. The door closed.

I could definitely hear footsteps now.

I lifted a shaking hand to brush the sweat off my face and realized I was crying.

 **Joy:**

Whispers raced around the crowd, everyone wanting to know the same thing. Who had the gun? Where were they now? Were we all going to die?

I checked my watch for the millionth time and saw it had been barely five minutes since the gun had been fired. It felt like a lifetime. There was the sound of a door opening, and as one our heads snapped to the source. It was Mrs. Dickerson, who taught science to the primary schoolers. One of the doors led straight out onto the grass lot in front of school, and she, Mr. Sweet and Mr. Taylor were ushering students through as quietly as possible.

I glanced around, trying to make sure no one had been shot. Logically, I knew the gun hadn't been fired in the room, the shots weren't nearly loud enough. But I couldn't seem to silence the voice in my mind that insisted one of my friends was dead. I saw Patricia, pale but determined, sitting with Eddie, who looked as though he might throw up, and Fabian, who was clearly terrified. Amber was leaning her head on Alfie's shoulder, tears streaking down her cheeks, marring the beautiful glitter she had so carefully painted on. People started walking towards the doors, and I saw a teary Mara holding tightly onto an expressionless Jerome. I felt a hand grab my shoulder and jerked before realizing it was Patricia, gesturing at me to come outside with the rest of them. Nina had left for the house a few minutes ago, she was probably outside already.

I kept my breathing controlled as best I could, ignoring the tears dripping off my own chin, my hand tightly clenching Patricia's as we made it outside. The second the smell of grass touched my nostrils, I felt like I could breathe again. We were outside, we were out of the school. Everything and everyone was going to be fine.

The students kept trickling out and we began sorting ourselves into houses. We'd never been trained in this sort of thing; school shootings didn't happen in the UK. But we did have fire drills, and everyone seemed to be treating this more or less the same. Once everyone had evacuated, we sorted ourselves into groups with the rest of our housemates and waited for our house masters or house mothers to come. As Anubis headed over to our spot, nervous laughter started filtering through the crowd. Maybe it had been a bad joke? No one seemed to be injured.

The eight of us found each other and congregated into a rough imitation of a circle, Fabian looking everywhere for Nina.

"You know, it's strange, isn't it?" We all turned to a wet-faced Mara.

When she didn't elaborate, Alfie prompted, "What's strange Mara?"

"Well everyone knew about the party tonight. If it were a student or a teacher, why wouldn't they have been in there with us?"

There was a beat of silence. "Well they would've known the bags were being searched," I reminded her.

Mara frowned. "I don't know. It just doesn't make sense."

Our heads whipped back to the air as more gunshots sounded, accompanied by the faint sound of breaking glass.

A high-pitched scream pierced the air, and I didn't have to hear Fabian hoarsely say her name to know who it was.

"Nina."

 **Nina:**

I hadn't meant to scream, I hadn't been able to help it. Glass rained down around me, and it took me a second to realize that whoever it was had simply blown out the window, not shot me.

"Are you going to listen to what I tell you this time?" I didn't answer, I was too busy shaking and trying not to vomit. "Stand up Ms. Martin."

My legs didn't seem to be working properly, but because I wasn't in the mood to die today, I braced my hands against the wall and dragged myself into a standing position, keeping my eyes fixed on the floor. I didn't know where I was supposed to look.

"Look at me Ms. Martin." I almost choked on a laugh. Well that solved that problem. I dragged my eyes up, ignoring how quickly my heart was racing, words drumming through my head with each beat of my pulse. _I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die._

I meant to bring my eyes up to their face, but my vision got stuck on the gun they were casually holding in front of their chest.

"I said." The gun cocked and I choked on nothing. "Look at me Ms. Martin."

I forced my eyes up, trying to see through the tears, and blinked in confusion. Who wears a ski mask to shoot up a school?

"Now are you going to do what I tell you Ms. Martin?"

They opened the door as I realized their voice sounded strange, like I was hearing it through a really crappy telephone. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, young or old, or anything of importance. What the hell was going on?

My chain of thought was derailed by the gun barrel that was suddenly a foot from my face. I was going to throw up. "Step out of the closet Ms. Martin."

My fingers were going numb, my whole body felt cold all over, but I somehow managed to step out of the closet. They gestured carelessly with the gun. The gun was silver. It seemed too small to be so fatal. "Walk over there."

I followed the gesture, walking on trembling legs over to stand in front of one of the lab tables. My fingers clenched and unclenched, trying to force some circulation to come back.

The shooter walked towards me and those same five words kept repeating through my head, an endless broken record. _I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die._ I desperately wanted to ask the shooter who they were, but I also wanted to live, and so I said nothing, too scared of saying the wrong thing to say anything at all.

"Did you know you're rather famous in some circles Ms. Martin?" They were maybe two feet away. No possible way to miss from that distance. "The girl who was touched by death." The gun was pointed right at my forehead and my eyes were starting to sting from not blinking. "Care to explain how you did it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." The words chiseled themselves out of my throat and left my lips in a raspy voice that I hoped they understood.

"No?" The gun vanished for a split second and then pain exploded in the right side of my face, knocking me over. The entire world was spinning, spinning, stars were bursting in front of my eyes and a ringing was filling my ears. The entire right side of my face was on fire, all I could feel was pain as I clapped a hand to my cheek and eye; blood, hot and sticky, trickling over my fingers. Next thing I knew the back of my head was burning and the shooter was tugging me up by my hair, forcing me to lean backwards over the desk, and my entire universe narrowed down to the sudden press of cold metal against my stomach.

My breathing shallowed out, all I could do was try to gasp in oxygen, try to breathe through the pain and the tears, praying each breath wouldn't be my last, as their mouth moved next to my ear and the gun dug itself into my skin.

"You don't know what I'm talking about, Ms. Martin?" A breathy laugh. On the off chance I didn't die today, I'd remember that laugh for the rest of my life. "Well then allow me to remind you."

 **Amber:**

My hand was holding Alfie's so tightly I was surprised he hadn't protested yet as we all stood around the school. All around us were voices, some loud, some quiet, all of them wanting to know what was happening. I saw the younger years crying, clutching each other for protection, and found myself faced with the sudden need to look elsewhere. I focused on Mr. Sweet, talking with the policemen and paramedics who had just arrived. There were three different ambulances, men and women in dark green uniforms climbing out, and at least a half a dozen police cars, all of them deep in discussion with the teachers.

There was movement in the corner of my eye. I turned to see Jerome and Eddie struggling with a distraught Fabian, forcing him to stand still. My ears didn't seem to be working properly, but I could tell that Fabian wanted to go back into the school and Eddie and Jerome weren't letting him. Mara and Patricia and Joy all looked like they were quietly trying to reason with Fabian, but he didn't appear to be listening.

"There's a maniac with a gun on the loose in there and Nina's still inside with him, do you honestly expect me to just _sit here_?" Fabian demanded.

I tugged Alfie over as Eddie started speaking again. "Fabian, she's _fine._ Trust me OK? Let the police handle this."

It might have been true when he said it, but the next second, another gunshot sounded.

No one screamed this time.

 **Nina:**

It's a strange thing being shot.

Nothing like in the movies, where they jerk backwards and fall over in fittingly dramatic poses, and then it's over and they're dead.

At first all I felt was an intense burning sensation in my stomach, as if someone was holding a blow torch to my skin. I looked down and saw that the shirt Amber had made for me was becoming stained with scarlet as blood spilled out of me, and my knees buckled as the shooter let go of my hair. I slid down to the ground, clutching a hand over my stomach, trying to hold in the blood. There was so much blood. It started to mix into my vision from the cut in my eye, turning everything red. Why did dying have to take so long? _I don't want to die._ I had too much to say, too much to do. I couldn't die yet. I had to turn in my English assignment, I had to go to college, I had to help Mara clean the kitchen next week, I had to live long enough to learn who shot me. I had to tell Fabian I loved him.

The pain was starting to spread, and suddenly I was lying sideways on the ground. I was vaguely aware of a door slamming shut. The pain was spreading out everywhere, from my stomach to my head to my legs. Was it possible for fingernails to ache? I wanted to scream, to call someone, but I couldn't do anything except lie there and try to stop myself from bleeding out on the floor.

 **Patricia:**

The eight of us were sitting on the ground in a circle, acutely aware of our missing link. When the gunshot had sounded, Eddie's face had screwed up in pain and he'd collapsed. We'd immediately surrounded him and I'd screamed for the paramedics, but by the time they arrived he was already sitting up, claiming it was only stress. Mr. Sweetie had arrived with a police officer and we'd immediately started yelling at them, demanding to know why they weren't going in, why they were leaving Nina alone with that psychopath. I don't think I'd ever heard Mara swear before, but in those moments, the vocabulary she'd picked up since she and Jerome had started dating became quite clear.

The officer started to say something about procedure when the loud speaker crackled to life and a voice I didn't recognize drifted over the lawn.

"Assuming you want to, it is safe to come in now. Nobody's dead. Yet. Although I'm afraid one of your students has been shot. I believe her name is Nina Martin?" Fabian made a strangled sound and Amber's shoulders shook as her crying renewed. "If you hurry, maybe you can save her. Thank you for your time, good night!"

 **Nina:**

Time was passing.

Strictly speaking, I wasn't really aware of time passing, but somehow, I was still alive. And if I was still alive, I must be continuing to live, so time must've been continuing to pass.

I was aware that I was dying. Men in uniforms danced in front of my vision, but I couldn't hear what they were saying, so I blinked to let them know I was alive. More time passed and people in bright green vests appeared, and my ears started to regain functioning.

"Ma'am? Can you hear me?" Someone was shining a bright light into my eyes. "Hi, hello? Can you tell me your name?"

Name. Say my name. I could do that. "Nina Martin." Did I actually speak or did I just mumble? I wasn't sure. Did it matter?

"Perfect. That's wonderful. Get a backboard and a c-collar. Nina I'm going to need you to stay awake, OK? Can you do that for me?"

"Yes." There was a sudden pressure where I'd been shot and my body jerked with the renewed pain.

"Are you a student here Nina?"

"Yes," I gasped. They were fitting something cushiony around my neck.

"Lovely, where are you from?"

"America."

"On three, one two three!" If I could have, I would've yelled in pain as I was lifted, but suddenly I was set down on something long and sturdy and then I was moving smoothly.

The voices started filtering in and out. "What do – parents think – you – to school here?"

I wasn't entirely sure what the question was but I tried to answer anyway. "My parents are dead."

My lips felt dry and I was suddenly seized with a sadness so intense it ached. Blackness started creeping into the edge of my vision. _I don't want to die._

 **Joy:**

I looked over to the school in time to see the paramedics carrying someone out. I recognized the curly hair and a cold sweat overcame my body. No. No way. It couldn't be true, I didn't want it to be true. "Eddie," I whispered, and everyone turned towards me, as though sensing the importance of the next words out of my mouth. "Eddie who's that the doctors are carrying out?" Suddenly the night was filled with desperate screaming.

"Nina!"

" _Nina!"_

"NINA!"

Patricia, Amber, and Fabian, all screaming out her name over each other. Patricia actually tried to run over to Nina, but an officer held her back. "Miss, you need to let the paramedics do their job."

As Patricia began yelling at the officer I didn't scream, or cry, I simply felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. I was the reason Nina hadn't been at the party. If only I'd remembered to bring the stupid Book, she would've been with the rest of us. She would've gotten out with everyone else. If she died, it would be all my fault.

I realized the others were having an actual conversation and forced myself to listen. "Ms. Williamson, it's school policy. You have to go back to your house, and once we know more about Ms. Martin's condition, you may join her at the hospital."

" _Screw_ school policy," Patricia spit at the headmaster.

"Nina's our friend, we need to be with her." Fabian was beside himself, practically shaking with grief and fury.

Mr. Sweet sighed. "Mr. Rutter, I understand you are worried, but you being at the hospital will do nothing for Ms. Martin." His face brightened momentarily and he waved at someone behind us. "Trudy will follow Ms. Martin to the hospital, she will alert me as soon as we know more about Ms. Martin's situation. In the meantime, I will escort you back to Anubis house."

"Is she going to be OK?"

Eddie was staring intently at his father and Mr. Sweet looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Let's just head back to Anubis house and —"

"Dad. Is Nina going to make it?"

We all seemed to hold our breaths, because if any of us could get an honest answer out of Sweetie right now it was Eddie, and we all knew it. There was a beat of silence and then Sweetie sighed. He polished his glasses, and not meeting our eyes said, "I don't know."

 **Nina:**

Words kept working their way into my head, strange things that didn't make any sense.

"60 and dropping."

"Curb!"

"Stay with us Nina, you're doing great."

"Stats are dropping, 82."

My body felt like someone had doused me in oil and set me on fire, my head felt like someone had stuffed it full of spiky cotton.

"Come on Nina, wake up and breathe."

"She's hyperventilating!"

"Give me the bag."

"We're losing her!"

"Damn it Nina stay with us!"

 **Patricia:**

No one said a word as we pushed open the door and headed to the living room. Mr. Sweet cleared his throat and tried to suggest that we go to bed, but the looks we gave him were so full of venom that he quickly desisted with that particular idea, and went into the kitchen to make tea.

After a few minutes Victor headed down and scowled when he saw us. "What is the meaning of this? All of you, get to bed. Now."

"Piss off," I snapped.

For about two seconds Victor actually looked taken aback, and then he practically swelled with fury. "Ms. Williamson —"

"Victor, if I may have a word?" Mr. Sweet interrupted.

Still glaring at me, Victor grudgingly followed Mr. Sweet out into the hallway. Mr. Sweet came back in when the tea kettle started whistling, and poured us out cups that we eventually started drinking in small sips, mostly just to have something to do with ourselves. Mara was sitting in a chair on Jerome's lap with puffy eyes, resting her head on his shoulder. Alfie and Joy, and me and Eddie had taken over one of the couches, squeezed so close together our shoulders were touching.

Amber and Fabian were together on the other couch, and it suddenly hit me how off that image looked. The best friend and the boyfriend. Two out of three of the original Sibuna trio. There was an almost tangent _wrongness_ to the image, one that made me want to scratch out my eyeballs. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to contemplate the damage that would happen if Nina didn't make it. I cast my thoughts back, trying to remember the last thing I had said to Nina, and found I couldn't do it. Aren't you supposed to remember the last thing you say to a person?

For the next few hours, the only sounds were the occasional clinking of tea cups, people sipping and swallowing, and the sounds of Eddie's watch ticking. At first, we were all so high strung that the idea of sleep seemed unthinkable, but somewhere around midnight Mara's eyes drifted shut, and not long after that, Joy's head drooped onto the shoulder of Alfie, who was already using the armrest as a pillow.

My tea cup was long empty, but I still held it, trying to find some way to warm myself. Eddie's arm was around my shoulders, and now I let myself lean into him, focusing fully on how his collarbone fit beneath mine, trying hard to avoid looking at either of us. The blood from our costumes didn't seem nearly as funny anymore.

It was almost one in the morning when the sound of a telephone ringing split the air and we all jerked awake, Alfie emitting a sleepy yell when he knocked his still filled cup of tea onto his pants.

Mr. Sweet, who had been asleep at the table, nearly fell off his chair before scrambling for his mobile. "Yes? Ah, hello Trudy."

We all watched with laser focus as he communicated with our house mother.

"Really? Are you sure?" I could practically feel my eardrums stretching as I tried to make out what Trudy was saying on the other end of the line.

"Alright. Thank you. Thank you very much."

He hung up and stared at the table for a moment. None of us dared to speak, hell, we hardly dared to breathe as we waited for Sweetie to hand us the verdict.

The headmaster's face suddenly broke into a tired smile and he looked over at us. "Nina's going to be fine."

The effect was instantaneous. Jerome, Alfie, Eddie and I cheered loudly, jumping up and shouting our delight, as Mara and Joy started crying again. Fabian practically collapsed backwards into the cushions and buried his head in his hands, while Amber hugged him so tightly I was worried she would take his head off.

Once the initial euphoria died down we immediately whirled on Mr. Sweet, requests to go and see Nina flying from our lips. He looked at us as though we were insane. "Now really!" he protested. "It's one o'clock in the morning, can't this wait until a more decent hour?"

There was an immediate chorus of unnecessarily aggressive ' _no_ 's', and our pleas resumed in earnest until Mr. Sweet acknowledged defeat. "Alright, alright! Enough!" He blew out a breath. "Alright. You wait here, I'm going to go and bring a school van around. I'll be back in about ten minutes, and then we'll go and see Ms. Martin. Satisfied?"

There was more cheering as he left, and a great deal of hugging – and maybe a little kissing – ensued.

"Wait!" Amber suddenly cried. "We _can't_ go to the hospital looking like this. Especially you two." She pointed at me and Eddie and I faked offense.

"Excuse me Princess Amber," I said, "but I look beautiful."

"What about me?" Eddie protested.

I pretended to give him an appraising look before shrugging. "You need to go change."

About fifteen minutes later, and the eight of us plus Sweetie were driving off campus in jeans and sweats. Amber had even brought a backpack with a change of clothes for Nina, ignoring us when we pointed out that Nina probably wouldn't be leaving the hospital for some time.

The drive over we were practically giddy with relief. Jerome and Alfie kept trying to play road trip games, but I kept threatening to strangle them and Mara kept winning, so the idea quickly lost its appeal. When we reached the hospital we immediately piled out of the van and bolted over to the front desk. There was a long line, but thankfully we ran into Trudy who had been waiting for us. She seemed infinitely amused at a still glittering Amber, and directed us towards Nina's room.

Unwilling to wait for the elevator we ran up the stairs, not even noticing the police officer outside the door until he stopped us from entering. "I'm sorry but this room is off limits."

"We're her classmates," I said, and the others nodded in agreement.

The officer's expression remained unsympathetic. "I'm going to need to see some form of identification."

Amber flipped her hair impatiently. "We're all students at Amun Academic Boarding School. I'm Amber Millington, I'm Nina's best friend. That's Fabian Rutter, he's Nina's boyfriend. That's Alfie Lewis, he's _my_ boyfriend. And that's Mara Jaffray, Mara's boyfriend Jerome Clark, Eddie Miller or Eddie Sweet, no one really knows, and Eddie's girlfriend Patricia Williamson. They're all friends of Nina's. And that's Joy Mercer, who's not really Nina's friend because she likes Nina's boyfriend, but Patricia and Mara are friends with her, and anyway she still lives in the same house as the rest of us."

The policeman seemed a little taken aback by the thoroughness of Amber's introduction, but he quickly recollected himself. "That's wonderful. But I'm afraid I still need identification."

Amber looked confused. "OK, but I just gave you our identification, so…?"

"Here." We turned to see a slightly out of breath Mr. Sweet holding out his driver's license. "My name is Eric Sweet, I am Nina Martin's headmaster. These are her housemates."

The officer briefly inspected the license, asked a few questions, and sighed. "Alright. You can go in later, after I question her. I don't think she's even awake yet."

"Bullshit," I snapped. Before anyone could move to stop me, I shoved the officer aside and opened the door, the others piling through behind me.

My eyes found Nina, and the first thing I felt was relief at the realization that she was indeed still alive. The second emotion I felt was horror, as I took in the rest of her appearance. Namely her face. She had some sort of large, white Band-Aid covering the area from her right cheekbone to above her right eyebrow, and one hell of a black eye forming. Her face had stains of blood all over it, including more than a few dark red patches in her hair. A tall, brown-skinned nurse with a pixie cut was adjusting Nina's IV when we entered, and smiled at us. "She should be waking up soon. Are you friends of hers?"

"We all live together at school," said Amber. "I'm Amber Millington, I'm her best friend, and that's Fabian Rutter. He's her boyfriend."

"They are also not allowed to be in here until she has been questioned," the officer said, interrupting Amber before she could perform her full introductory monologue again.

The nurse, whose nametag identified her as Lily, accepted all of this with a nod as she adjusted Nina's blankets. "Well there's a good chance that when she wakes up she'll be confused, so it would probably be best if you just waited outside until she's ready." With groans and half-hearted protests, we reluctantly filed out. Fabian and Amber wanted to stay though, and only left when the police officer threatened them with detainment. "Oh, excuse me sir? Could I speak with you for a moment?" Nurse Lily asked Mr. Sweet as he tried to follow us out.

Sweetie stayed back and we all looked at each other before quickly pressing our ears to the door, ignoring the officer's protests.

"How is she?" Sweetie asked.

"Mr. Sweet, was it? If I'm being completely honest, and I have to be, because liability reasons: this girl is very lucky. They lost her once in the ambulance, and once on the table, but now it looks like she's going to make a full recovery. She should walk out of here in three or four days, and truthfully? I'd say that's a minor miracle."

At this point their voices hushed as they moved away from the door and we stepped back in defeat.

We proceeded to skulk outside her door for a few minutes as Mr. Sweet headed outside to make phone calls and send Trudy back to school. The only excitement was when Jerome and Alfie announced they were going on a cafeteria raid and took a list of orders, and when an old male patient with a walker fell over and cursed out the nurse who tried to help him up. About forty minutes later, Nurse Lily poked her head out of the door as we munched on cookies and chocolate and whatever else Jerome and Alfie had managed to carry back.

"Nina's awake and says she's ready for visitors if you want to talk to her."

"I need to debrief her first," the officer protested as we all surged to our feet and Lily frowned.

"Officer, the gunshot wound is not self-inflicted if that's what you were thinking. Now this girl has been through an extremely traumatic experience, I think she's allowed a couple of minutes with her friends before the interrogation process starts. Don't you?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned to the rest of us. "Nina just woke up a few minutes ago, so I'm going to ask that you be tactful, and try not to overwhelm her with questions. Can you do that?"

We all impatiently assured Nurse Lily that we could, and she stepped aside to let us in.

Nina was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, curly hair splayed out on her pillow, and I looked away from her face as my throat tightened. Fabian sat down in the chair next to her, gently taking her hand in both of his as the police officer went over to the corner, folded his arms and scowled at us. "Nina?" Fabian's voice was gentle and we all leaned in.

Nina slowly pulled her eyelids apart, her eyes first going to Fabian. "Hi," she said weakly, and we all released a collective breath. At this she looked at the rest of us and her eyes widened, a small smile playing across her lips. "Oh, you guys didn't all have to come."

"Of course we came, Nina." Amber sounded insulted.

Nina exhaled a breathy laugh. "Well, now I feel special."

"How are you feeling?" piped up Alfie, and Amber not-so-discreetly elbowed him in the stomach.

Nina raised her eyebrows. "Like I got shot," she deadpanned.

"Well you look like hell," Jerome noted. This time the elbow was Mara's.

"I got _shot_ ," Nina repeated, sounding indignant, but there was a small smile on her lips as she said it. We all started laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation, but Nina clapped a hand over her stomach and started coughing harshly. We all looked around frantically before Nurse Lily calmly poured some water and helped Nina drink it.

Nina's head dropped back onto the pillows, eyes closed.

Nurse Lily frowned. "Maybe it'd be better if you came back tomorrow."

"I want them to stay," Nina protested, eyes opening. At this point the police officer cleared his throat pointedly and Nurse Lily gave a sigh of resignation. "Well they have to leave for now, the police have some questions for you."

"Why do they even want to question Nina?" I demanded. My trust in the police ranged somewhere between zero and none.

"Because they need to find out if she knows who attacked her," Nurse Lily said calmly. "If you're determined to stay, then why don't you go to the cafeteria while you wait?"

Grumbling, we started to leave with the exception of Fabian, who stayed determinedly in his chair. The officer asked – well, ordered – him to leave but Nina clenched his hand tightly. "Can't he stay?"

The officer threw up his hands in surrender, but Fabian was allowed to stay as the rest of us filed out.

The questioning took less than an hour, during which time we continued to haunt the hallway outside Nina's room, ignoring all of Mr. Sweet's pointed suggestions that we return to school. The officer seemed unsurprised to see us when we exited, giving us all a healthy amount of glaring before allowing us to go back in.

It turned out Jerome and Alfie had brought an Uno deck, and an extremely competitive tournament started. And if at one point a couple of us threw a match or two so that Nina could win? Well, no one said anything.

At some point the conversation turned to oral surgery. As it turned out, Fabian and I were the only ones to not get all four wisdom teeth removed. Fabian had only had two to start with, while mine had simply never needed removal. We really should have headed back to school, but at this point it was nearly three o'clock in the morning, and nobody thinks clearly at three o'clock in the morning.

"Are you going to have a scar?" mumbled Alfie.

We all sleepily yelled at him, but Nina shrugged, playing with her sheets. "Eventually, yeah. Right now, it's just stitches though. And it'll bruise first."

"That is so badass," said Alfie, sounding appreciative.

A few of us laughed, and the discussion turned to scars. It eventually turned into a contest that Joy won, courtesy of a scar on her left foot from when she was twelve. I remembered the occasion well. Her foot had slipped into an open grate and been sliced open along the top; she'd been on crutches for three weeks, and complained about it for at least twice that.

I'm not sure when we fell asleep, but sometime later that morning Nurse Lily was shaking us awake. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, attempting to lean away from the wall I'd spent the night propped up against, and groaned out loud as my back cracked in a few dozen places. Eddie laughed until he tried to move from his position next to me, when he groaned even louder than I had.

Mr. Sweet had fallen asleep in the chair in the corner at some point and was now trying to herd us out the door, saying we had to get back to school.

Amber and Fabian and Eddie and I complained, but Mr. Sweet held firm. "You can have Trudy drive you back later today if Ms. Martin wishes, but as of right now, we must return."

"Why?" yawned Jerome.

"Because I have to return, and I cannot leave nearly a dozen students here without supervision, and no means of returning to campus." Mr. Sweet began grabbing elbows, directing bleary-eyed students towards the door but Nina grabbed Fabian's hand as he made to stand.

"Can you stay?" she asked. Her voice was so quiet that I barely caught it, I doubted any of the others had.

Fabian nodded and instantly sank back down into the chair. Sweetie sighed. "Ms. Martin, we must return to school."

"Please can he stay?" Nina's voice was scratchy but determined, and she clutched Fabian's hand so tightly she seemed to be daring Mr. Sweet to try and make her let go.

Sweetie glanced between the two of them and rubbed his eyes, sighing. "Just Mr. Rutter. No one else."

"Wait if Fabian's staying why can't I stay?" protested Amber.

" _No._ " The headmaster's voice was bordering on waspish, and so Amber gently gave Nina a reluctant hug goodbye, leaving the backpack with clothes and promising to come back later with makeup.

I didn't give Nina a hug, but I squeezed the hand not latched onto Fabian before heading outside with the others. The walk out of the hospital and to the car was spent practically attacking Mr. Sweet with questions about when we could return, until he snapped at us that these things would be decided later today, after numerous cups of tea.

The drive to school saw most of us fall back asleep, and I was leaning my head onto Eddie's shoulder, half-conscious when he placed his lips against my ear and whispered, "Don't let it go to your head Yacker. But I'm really glad you didn't get shot."

My lips twitched into a smile as I replied, "Don't let it go to your head weasel. But I'm glad you didn't get shot either."

 **Nina:**

"You can't feel guilty about this."

Fabian, who had been pressing our joined hands to his forehead, looked at me, startled. "What?"

I gave a tired smile. "You're wearing your guilty face. You've found some way to blame yourself for this, and I won't let you do that."

Fabian sighed and pressed my fingers to his lips, causing me stomach to do flip flops. "I shouldn't have let you leave the gym."

I shrugged. "It wasn't really your choice. Besides, Joy forgot the Book, I had to get it —"

I sat bolt upright before falling back down with a cry of pain, my hand going to my stomach.

"Nina, it's safe OK?" Fabian looked terrified, his hands hovering over me, unsure of what to do. "Amber went upstairs and got it when we went back to the house. The Book is fine." He gestured towards the backpack next to his chair. "It's right in here."

Nodding, I tried to get my breath back as I made to blink the sudden colors out of my vision. "Good. Thank her for me, would you?" He nodded, and I smiled, bringing our hands up to my lips. I pressed a quick kiss to his knuckles, looking up at him in time to catch his still guilty expression. "Fabian. I mean it. You can't blame yourself."

"Nina —"

"Fabian, unless you pulled the trigger, there is no way in earth, heaven or hell I am going to allow you to punish yourself for this."

His expression suddenly became one of interest. "Speaking of." He glanced around and I braced for the question I knew was coming. "Nina, you really don't know who did it? Pulled the trigger, I mean."

I shook my head. "No. No, like I told the police they were wearing a mask, and they did something to their voice." Fabian frowned and I internally sighed. "Look I know it doesn't make sense OK? But that's what happened I swear —"

"Nina, you don't have to swear anything. I believe you. It just doesn't make sense is all."

"Well that's more than I can say for the police." I tried to laugh but it was suddenly very hard to breathe. Fabian looked at me, concern shining in those beautiful brown eyes, and reached a hand up to my face to brush away tears. I hadn't even realized I was crying. "I thought I was going to die." Now I really was crying, and I couldn't seem to stop. Great, big, heaving sobs that rattled my chest and tore through my throat, threatening to rip me apart. "I thought I was going to die." I wanted to stop crying, if for no other reason than it hurt the place I'd been shot but I was no longer in complete control of my body.

All I was conscious of right now was Fabian's hand in mine, the lifeline tethering me to earth. If he let me go I didn't know what would happen. There was a dip in the bed and then Fabian's arm was around my shoulders and he was tucking me into him, careful of the tubes sticking out of my body, pressing my face into his chest as I cried and cried and cried. "I thought I was going to die." Fabian didn't say anything, just held me to him as I cried until I had no more tears left in my body, and then he just held me.

"Tell me about something happy."

"Something happy?" I hiccupped.

"Yeah." Fabian seemed insistent. "Tell me about a really good day. One I don't know about."

A good day. I racked my brain, tossing through old memories, trying to find one from before I came to England. There were depressingly few, but eventually I found one.

"One day, my mom was getting back from visiting some friends from college. And my dad and I cleaned the whole house to get ready for her to come back. And, when I say, the whole house? I mean, the whole house. Rug beating, furniture dusting, window cleaning. The whole nine yards. We did the laundry, and we washed all the dishes, and my dad made a game out of it. For every chore I finished before him, I got a piece of chocolate. I really wanted the chocolate, so I tried to finish every chore before him, without realizing he was just making me do all the work." Fabian laughed, and I felt his chest vibrate. "It took us over twelve hours to finish. I'm pretty sure I would've repainted the walls if my dad had let me. And then when my mom got home that night, I was covered in chocolate, but the house was cleaner than it had been since we moved into it. She joked that must have given the cab driver the wrong address."

I smiled at the memory, and at Fabian's fingers in my hair. "How old were you?"

"Ten." My smile stilled. "That was the year they died."

There was a moment of silence and I could tell Fabian was contemplating whether or not to change the subject. "What were their names?"

I drew idle circles over his hipbone with my finger. "My mom's name was Adelaide. My dad always called her Addie. And, my dad's name was Matthew."

"Those are good names."

I started to laugh, but it hurt, so I stopped. "Thanks for the validation." I tilted my head up to look at him, smiling. "They would have loved you."

His fingers stilled. "You think so?"

"I know so. If you believe nothing else I tell you, trust me, when I say my parents would have adored you."

I let my head rest back onto his chest, grabbing his hand again. "I would've liked to meet them."

There was a hot feeling in the back of my eyeballs that I repressed. "I wish you could have."

I'm not entirely sure what we talked about after that. All I was aware of was the boy beside me. As my eyes started to shut again, I embraced a feeling I hadn't felt since before a gun had been fired at the school. I felt safe.

 **AN: so Nina got shot. I wonder who shot her? There may or may not be a Halloween part 3, but probably not, which means it's back to one POV per chapter now. I hope you've enjoyed this special occasion, I know I have!**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.**


	19. Chapter 17: Patricia

**Patricia**

A lot can happen in three days. If you're committed, you can binge watch the entire 'Sherlock Holmes' series on Netflix. If you're unprotected and don't take a morning after pill, you can get pregnant. If you're a mayfly, you'll have been dead for 48 hours already. If you're Nina Martin, you can be complaining about the number of tests the hospital has to run, and that you got shot you didn't have your head chopped off, so why can't you just go home already?

"Um, because you got shot genius?" I smirked, scrolling through songs on my iPod. "That's not something people just walk away from."

"Yes, but I _could_ walk away from this bed, if my dear, dear boyfriend, would let me out of it?" As she finished speaking, Nina cast an imploring glance at said boyfriend, who held firm.

"Nina, you do understand the meaning of the phrase bed rest, don't you?" Fabian asked. "Besides, what about your stitches?"

Nina looked miffed. "What about my stitches?"

"Well seeing as how you only got them three days ago when, in case you've forgotten, you had a bullet cut out of your stomach, you could tear them."

Nina started to argue back but Amber intervened. "Nina stop talking. I'm trying to do your lip gloss in case you hadn't noticed, and you're making it difficult."

Trying very hard not to move her lips, Nina asked, "Remind me again why I need lip gloss?"

Amber gave her a patronizing look. "Just because you're in the hospital, is no excuse not to take care of yourself. Now, _stop_ _talking_."

I laughed as Nina shut up and let Amber finish her makeover. As far as I was aware, Nina hadn't even run a brush through her hair during her hospital stay, and I honestly didn't know why Amber bothered. The blonde may have been stellar with tweezers, but all the concealer in the world wouldn't cover up the rainbow of bruises surrounding an angry red line running up the right side of Nina's face. It barely made a dent in her rather impressive black eye either. When I'd seen it for the first time this morning I'd actually done a double take. Eddie had been here yesterday when they took the bandage off, and he had said it was bad, but turns out he'd used disappointingly scant adjectives.

In the few days since Halloween, we'd kept up a running cycle of visitors at Nina's bedside. Sweetie had brought in counselors and mandated sessions for all the students as the police tried to find the person responsible, so classes were off until next Monday. Nina had seemed unreasonably pleased upon learning she wouldn't miss any classes. Of course, that may have just been the fact that Joy had not once come to visit since the first night, and Nina was always happy about the tiny girl's absence.

Amber started filing Nina's nails, and Nina held out her other hand towards me. I rolled my eyes, but reached into my backpack and retrieved the book she had requested someone bring. "You're a geek, you know that?" I asked, passing the book to Fabian who gave it to Nina.

"First, I'm a nerd, not a geek. Second, I prefer the term Potterhead. And finally, _Prisoner of Azkaban_ is a work of art, thank you very much."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Also, I've known you over two years now, and I have never seen you pick up a Harry Potter book before today. Just saying."

Nina's voice was hesitant when she replied. "It's… sort of a tradition."

"What tradition?" Amber's airy tone implied she didn't understand the conversation was taking a potentially serious turn.

Nina cleared her throat. "It's uh. It's kind of morbid, actually. Whenever I'm in the hospital, visiting or patient or whatever, I read _Prisoner of Azkaban_."

"Well that _is_ a depressing tradition," Amber sniffed. "How much time do you have to spend in hospitals to have a tradition like that? OW!"

I'd thrown a pen at Amber, smacking her on the side of my head. She turned to me, glaring. "That really hurt!" she complained.

I glared, and drew a line across my throat. Amber rolled her eyes, but changed the subject. "So, Nina, is it true you're coming back tomorrow?"

The American made a so-so gesture with her hand. "Tomorrow or the day after that, the doctors want to be certain."

"Well I'm glad," said Fabian.

Nina smiled exasperatedly at him. "Well I'm not. Thankful, yes. Happy, not so much. I've been here forever; can't they just give me painkillers and send me home?"

"Speaking of home Nina, why isn't your gran here?"

" _AMBER._ "

"What?" she demanded, glaring at me and Fabian. "It's a perfectly legitimate question."

Nina frowned. "Well she probably doesn't even know about it actually. She moved into a retirement home over the summer, so she got a new phone number, and I never got around to changing my emergency contact information."

Fabian looked appalled. "Nina, you have to call her."

Nina shook her head. "No, the doctors said I'm going to be fine, she'd probably just worry."

"Of course, she'd worry, she's your grandmother and you got _shot_."

"Yes, but I'm going to be fine."

Nurse Lily walked in, making notes on a clipboard. When she looked up and saw us she gave a small smile. "Well if it isn't the ghosts of hospitals present. I'm afraid I have to kick you out for a little while, the doctors need to do a check in."

Because we liked Nurse Lily, we exited the room with minimal complaining. I practically shoved Amber out the door, as she was aweing at Fabian giving Nina a quick goodbye kiss.

The doctors took about a half an hour, during which time we sat outside in the hallway while Fabian read a book about string theory. Amber and I took it upon ourselves to loudly discuss his and Nina's relationship, fighting back laughter as Fabian's ears grew steadily redder. When we were finally allowed back in, Amber resumed her self-designated job as a manicurist, and we proceeded to discuss the latest trial.

Two nights ago, we'd passed over in our dreams for the first time in nearly three weeks, and because none of us had been expecting it, we hadn't been wearing the objects Nina had charmed. I didn't know much about what the others had experienced, but Joy had woken up with burns all over her back that we'd hastily had to hide from Mara. Eddie had bruises up and down his arms, Alfie had spent the day wincing at loud noises, and Amber had just seemed generally terrified. I hadn't been to visit Nina that day, so I didn't know what had happened to her. Personally, I was wearing jeans to cover up the scratches and bite marks covering my legs, from where some sort of monster had tried to eat me alive. If Nina and Eddie had experienced nights like that the first few weeks they'd been here, I don't know how they hadn't gone insane. Fabian was the only one of us who hadn't dreamt anything, and none of us could figure out why.

Last night however, we suited up and were returned to the trials. This time, we were facing what appeared to be a labyrinth. The seven of us had tentatively entered, and walls had immediately slammed down, separating us into three different groups. Me and Amber and Joy, Fabian and Alfie, and Eddie and Nina.

"Just so everyone's clear on everyone else," Nina began, "Patricia. Amber. What does your section look like?"

I made a face as Amber and I glanced at each other, before replying. "Well that's sort of the problem. We don't know what it looks like, because we can't see anything. The wall came down and the lights went out."

"Amber don't you bring a torch?" Fabian asked.

"Oh my god Fabian, you're _such_ a genius. I can't _believe_ we didn't think of that," I mocked.

"Patricia." Nina's tone was warning.

I rolled my eyes. "The torch doesn't do anything. It's completely black in there, it took us forever just to find each other. Now it's your turn genius. What are you and Alfie dealing with?"

Fabian's expression grew slightly nauseous. "Giant spiders."

I snorted. I couldn't help it. "Giant spiders? What, like the size of your head?"

He scowled at me. "No Patricia, giant spiders like the size of this room."

I stopped laughing.

"What are you supposed to do?" Nina asked, sounding worried.

Fabian swallowed. "Well there's a door, and about half a dozen spiders. One of the spiders has a key hanging from its… head. We're working with the theory that we probably have to grab the key without getting killed, and use it to get out." Nina's mouth grew considerably tighter as her boyfriend kept talking, and so he quickly changed topics. "What about you and Eddie?"

I held my breath for a brief second, anxiously waiting for the ember of jealousy from earlier this year to reignite, and exhaled when it stayed dormant. When I'd eventually talked to Eddie about the conversation I'd overheard between him and Nina, he'd explained they'd simply been arguing whether or not to tell us about the nightmares. Because I was working on trusting my boyfriend, I'd taken his word for it, and had been given no reason to the contrary to be suspicious.

Nina seemed to brace herself before opening her mouth. "Well. After the wall, a hole opened up beneath us, and we fell like twenty feet. Onto a rock." She sucked in her lips before finishing. "Surrounded by lava."

"Lava?" Amber asked disbelievingly, as though unsure she'd heard right.

"Yeah, lava. All around us. There's a door about fifty feet ahead, but we have no idea how to get to it." Wincing, Nina pushed herself into a straighter sitting position, and clapped her hands together, slightly out of breath. "So. Let's try and work this out."

By the time Nurse Lily came to kick us out at eight-thirty, we had figured out a starting place for all three rooms, and Fabian was the smug owner of over a hundred M&Ms, having demonstrated what mathematical skills can do for a person's poker game. I was still convinced he'd cheated. Amber and I walked down to the lobby to meet Trudy. We gave the daily status report as she walked us over to the school van, and on the drive back Amber and I argued over whether or not stiletto heels constituted proper hospital wear.

Victor was waiting in the foyer when we returned and promptly glared at us. "Am I to assume Mr. Rutter is spending the night at the hospital? _Again_?" He was still bitter Fabian and Nina had managed to convince Mr. Sweet to let Fabian stay overnight.

Trudy ushered us away as she tried to calm down our housemaster. Amber and I smirked at each other before entering the living room where the rest of our classmates were waiting, and we were promptly attacked with questions. Mara and Eddie were asking when Nina would be back, and Jerome and Alfie wanted to know if we'd seen Nina's scar. Joy, unsurprisingly, asked nothing. I let Amber field the questions as I looked over at Joy. I was worried about her, and I wasn't the only one. Monsieur Duval had come to check in on us the day after the shooting, and had asked to speak alone with Joy. I don't know why she seemed to be taking what had happened to Nina so personally, but after he left I could tell Joy'd been crying.

I walked over and sat down on the couch next to Joy, and saw she was reviewing vocabulary. "Don't be such a Mara, Joy. We don't have classes for like, six days. Besides, I thought you were doing better in French."

"You can never be too prepared, right?" She didn't raise her eyes from her notes.

I sighed internally. To put it lightly, I was less than skilled in emotionally laden discussions, and had been participating in far too many of them lately for my liking. "Joy, is there anything you want to talk about?"

"What do you mean?"

I sighed externally. "Joy can I talk to you for a minute?"

"We are talking."

"Alone, Joy." Now she looked up at me and I jerked my head towards the stairs. She hesitated. I could practically see her mentally fighting with herself. "Joy, come on, I just want to talk."

Joy turned her eyes back to the flashcards. "Patricia I'm fine."

"No, you're not." She didn't reply and I scowled. I was exhausted, I was worried about Nina, and I was in no mood to drag answers out of Joy, one by one, against her will. "Fine then." I snapped. "Be a martyr. Suffer in silence, go through whatever you're going through all by yourself, and see if I care." I shoved myself off the couch and walked over to the kitchen table, where Eddie was building a house of cards, only with tortilla chips instead of cards. It didn't seem to be going that well.

"Hello loser," Eddie greeted me, concentrating intently on his structure. I raised my eyebrows when he didn't look at me, and feeling pissed, swatted the chips. Eddie yelled in dismay as the entire thing toppled and most of the chips exploded. He glared at me. "What was that for?"

Unable to feel remorse for my actions, I plopped myself down in the chair next to him. "I'm bored, and I'm pissed. Pay attention to me."

The irritation left his face and was replaced by his trademark smirk. "What sort of attention would you like?"

I shrugged, feigning indifference, ignoring the chills running along my arms. "Whatever will make me not want to tear Joy's head off."

Eddie, still smirking, raised his eyebrows and glanced over at the others before grabbing my arm. "Come on," he muttered, pulling me along. I followed my boyfriend over to his and Fabian's room, and smiled when I remembered Fabian wasn't coming back tonight.

I felt myself grin as Eddie stepped back into his room and pulled me in after him. The door shut behind me and next thing I knew my back was pressed up against it, and Eddie's mouth was very close to mine. I could feel him everywhere around me, feel one of his hands on my left arm, feel the other pressed up against the door right above my head. His hips were close enough to mine that you probably couldn't squeeze a magazine between us. My eyelids drifted shut as his lips moved closer to mine, but at the last second his head turned and he brought them to my ear instead. "I missed you today," he whispered. His voice was rougher than normal, it made my heartbeat speed up.

"What exactly did you miss?" My voice nearly cracked on the last word.

"Seeing you. Kissing you." His breath ghosted the shell of my ear. "Teasing you."

"There's this thing called cell phones. You could have texted." How I still possessed the mental abilities to string together coherent sentences was beyond me.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Maybe I was trying to make you… ache for me." I groaned softly. I couldn't help it. He was far better at this than any teenage boy had a right to be.

"Ache for you? Who even talks like that?" I snapped breathily, desperately turning my head, trying to kiss him, to feel his lips on mine, but he drew back.

"Well it worked, didn't it?" I opened my eyes to see him in front of me, inches away, smirking, and fought the urge to step on his foot.

"Why do you have to be so —"

"Sexy?" Eddie suggested.

" _Infuriating_."

"In America that's just another word for sexy."

"Oh, shut _up._ " Before he could convince me to inflict lasting bodily harm, I put one hand on his shoulder and one on the back of his head, drew him into me and kissed him hard.

I could kiss Eddie a thousand times and never grow tired of it. But it seemed he was impatient right now, because I immediately felt his tongue sweeping my mouth open, felt his hands skim just above the waistline of jeans, underneath my shirt. At the sensation of his fingers on my skin I forgot to breathe for a few seconds, my body becoming pliant in his hands. Osirian or not, Eddie Miller had never needed any magical powers for his touch to slide the bones right out of my body. I felt his other hand on my neck, his thumb tracing a line just beneath my ear, and realized there was a very real possibility I was going to melt into a puddle of girl goo.

I wanted him to react the same way to my touch, I wanted to drive him as mad as he drove me. Our lips were still fastened together, making it hard to think, but I was aware of some things I could do to make him lose control. I wrapped both arms around his neck and pulled him into me, arching my back so that every part of us was touching. His mouth broke away from mine as he made a sound deep in the back of his throat. My eyes opened into slits; I saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, saw his lips slightly parted. I could feel his hand against my back trembling ever so slightly as I dragged my hands across his shoulder blades, his arms, the back of his neck. I wanted to memorize every part of him.

I could feel him watching me as I ran my hands over him. I lifted my eyes to his, each breath an effort, as my hands found the bottom of his ACDC shirt and I gently started to lift it upwards. It passed his stomach and still his eyes didn't stray from mine. Neither of us spoke, both of us afraid to break the spell that had temporarily been cast over us. The shirt got to the point where I had to adjust my grip to keep pulling it upwards, and when it got high enough Eddie took over. His hands left me as he pulled the shirt the rest of the way off his head, and I let my eyes wander over his body, marveling at the smooth expanse of skin I hadn't seen before. There were light blond hairs all over his chest, trailing down his stomach and beneath his jeans into an area I wasn't ready to think about. For someone who ate as much as he did, Eddie was fitter than I had expected. "I thought all Americans were supposed to be obese." It took me a few seconds to realize I'd spoken out loud.

Eddie laughed, but it was shaky. "Sorry to disappoint, but you really should know better than to trust stereotypes, _Hermione_."

I let the Hermione comment slide as I gently pressed my fingertips into the skin of his waist. I could see a strip of plaid underwear above his jeans. "I wouldn't say I'm disappointed," I murmured, tracing my fingertip upwards. I could feel his body shaking, like he might fall apart under my touch. "Maybe pleasantly surprised." With the exception of my nervous system my entire body seemed to have shut down.

Before I could change my mind, I gripped the hem of my own shirt and pulled upwards. I tended to favor tighter shirts more often than not, and it normally wasn't a problem, but right now it meant it took me a few extra seconds to get my top off. I could only pray I didn't look too ridiculous. The shirt passed over my head, thankfully with minimal struggling, and I shifted my eyes downward as I pulled it off my arms, almost unable to meet his eyes, the word 'disappointed' faintly echoing in my ears. When I found the courage to look up at him, his expression resembled that of someone who'd been hit over the head. The fact that 99% of the bras I owned were lace was one of my most closely guarded secrets, but the look on his face at the sight of the deep purple I was wearing today did nothing but good things for my ego.

Eddie's hands went to my arms, tentatively floating above my shoulders, almost like he was afraid to touch me. "You're so beautiful," he whispered. I ignored the hot feeling in the back of my eyes. I couldn't remember when anyone else had ever called me beautiful before. I wanted to kiss him again but he was walking backwards, and I had to remind myself to breathe as I saw where we were heading. I thought back to the conversation we'd had a few weeks ago. Not my speed, or his speed. We'd go at our speed. Either of us could say stop at any time, no questions asked. Eddie fell backwards and tugged me down with him, I reached out my wrist to break my fall and felt it sink into the comforter. He gently placed a hand on my back and pulled me up against him, and finally started kissing me again, and oh. My. God. Skin on skin was _so_ much better. I could feel my breasts flatten against him as our lips moved together in a synchronized dance, felt his arms wrap around my back and slide under my bra straps to touch my shoulders, was acutely aware of absolutely everywhere we were touching and I thought my heart might give out from sheer pleasure.

Eddie broke away and I wanted to protest, but before I got the chance he rolled me over and drew back, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to my stomach. My head fell onto the pillows and my eyes just about rolled back into my head as his mouth moved steadily higher, until he reached the area between my breasts and I honestly thought it might kill me. Eventually he moved back up to my lips, and I wasn't capable of anything except kissing him back —

"Oh my God!"

Eddie and I jerked apart so quickly that he actually fell backwards off the bed, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself as I sat up to see a very flustered Joy. "Word of advice? Petition Victor for a lock on the door," she said cheekily, staring fixedly at the wall, obviously trying to make light of the situation. Everywhere I had felt pleasure seconds before, I now felt only humiliation.

"What do you want Joy?" Embarrassment sharpened my tone.

She coughed hesitantly, before looking up at the ceiling and cleared her throat. "Nothing, just um, the talking thing. You said you wanted to talk, and I just – you know what never mind. I did knock, I swear!" Thinking back on it, I'm pretty sure I remembered hearing someone knocking right before Joy entered. I chose to ignore that piece of information.

Eddie, who had stood up and walked over to the door, picked up my shirt and tossed it at me. I quickly shrugged it on as Joy discreetly pointed at Eddie before giving me a thumbs up. "Joy just forget it, OK?" She rolled her eyes, seeming nearly as disappointed as I was relieved when Eddie pulled his own shirt back on.

"Believe me, I wish I could." Joy gestured at the door. "So, I'll be going then. You two have fun. Make good choices."

She ducked out of sight and I quickly went after her. "Joy, wait!"

I stepped into the hallway and found her paused near the stairs, waiting for me. I lowered my voice. "Joy you're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

Joy attempted a smile that was more of a grimace. "Tell them about what?"

I sighed in relief. "Thanks. Do you still want to talk?"

"Honestly? After that little show, I just want to bleach my eyeballs." I shoved her and she laughed, and just like that the tension was gone. "Look we'll talk later yeah?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Her face suddenly lit up with mischief. "Oh, and Patricia?"

"What?" I asked warily.

"I'm pretty sure Mara has condoms if you need them."

I shrieked and made to smack her, but she ducked, laughing, and skipped up the stairs.

Grinning, I walked back in to see Eddie splayed out on the bed. "Back for more already?"

I rolled my eyes. "Get over yourself doofus, the moment's over. If you'd like to continue to bask in my presence, you can make me a sandwich. The hospital food is still complete crap and I'm starving."

Eddie heaved a comically large sigh, and swung himself off the bed. He ended up making me a turkey sandwich that he stole half of, before Victor came in at half past nine and yelled at us to get ready for bed. Smirking at each other, we headed off to our respective floors, and as I lay in bed that night, forcing myself to think of the labyrinth as I drifted off to sleep, I found it hard to wipe the smile off my face.∞

* * *

∞"I'm right here. Just follow my voice."

"I can't tell where your voice is coming from!" Joy complained.

"I'm to your left!" Amber said.

"No, Joy's to your left, you're to her right." I corrected. I'd found that while closing my eyes didn't make a difference in terms of what I could see, it helped me focus on my hearing better. "Joy, take ten steps to your left and then pause."

The suffocating silence returned, and I was grateful Amber wasn't humming nervously anymore. Granted I'd yelled at her to stop, but my gratefulness was undiminished. "OK, now what?" called Joy.

"Joy say something else?"

"Like what?"

"Like that. OK, Amber? Say something?"

"I am underappreciated as a human being."

"Good for you. Joy take another ten steps to your left."

It took us awhile, but eventually I managed to direct Joy around the room and to Amber, who promptly screamed in fright when Joy grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Relax! Amber calm down, it's me!"

"I don't know anyone named me!"

"It's Joy!"

"…Right. I knew that."

After Amber and Joy got hooked up I had them keep talking until I could find them. "So, what now?" asked Joy.

"Well we were talking it over this morning, and Nina suggested we just walk in one direction until we find a wall," I answered.

"And how is _that_ going to help us?" Joy's hand was gripping my elbow, so logically I knew she was standing right next to me when she spoke. However, thanks to the crushing blackness, it sounded like there was a disembodied voice speaking to me, and it was a little difficult not to get freaked out.

"Well it'll give us a baseline for one thing. I mean, this room can't go on forever can it?" I said.

Joy acquiesced, and we slowly walked to where Joy had been originally, after deciding Joy and Amber should hold out their hands so we didn't bump into anything.

As we were walking I decided I hated this room. The choking, smothering blackness. It was like someone had thrown a blanket over my senses. Even with my eyes closed, it was like Joy and Amber were talking from far away. I couldn't see anything at all, I couldn't smell anything, and aside from the ground beneath my feet and Joy and Amber's hands on my arms, we seemed to be walking in empty space. Amber seemed to think the humidity was the worst bit.

"No one can even see your hair, would you please shut up about it?" I snapped.

Amber muttered something I couldn't make out before calling out. "Hey I feel something!"

"Me too," Joy agreed.

"Well what is it?" I asked.

Before they could answer my question, bright lights flared into existence, causing us to cry out and cover our eyes. I kept my fingers pressed into my eyelids until the burning had subsided, and when I finally opened them I blinked a few times before everything came back into focus.

The room was roughly square shaped, about twenty meters in all directions, and the walls to the side of us were lined with torches that had suddenly caught flame.

"You have got to be kidding me."

I turned to Joy. "What?"

My eyes followed the finger she pointed to the wall we'd found, and slowly trailed up, up and up, until I couldn't see any further.

"Someone please tell me we don't have to climb our way out."∞

* * *

∞Knowing Nina was coming back from the hospital today meant breakfast was packed with a hectically pleased energy, even Victor's roars to be silent couldn't quiet us.

Trudy bustled over, replacing the empty orange juice pitcher with a full one. "Now I know you've all been visiting Nina and you're excited she's coming back, but I need to warn you, don't be prying her with questions about what happened. The police have already questioned her, and she's been through enough recently without having to relive all of that. You hear me?"

After assuring Trudy that we would leave Nina more or less alone, we started trading theories on how we thought the shooter had broken in. Our ideas steadily grew more and more ridiculous, but no one seemed to care. "OK, OK, OK. Hear me out." Alfie held up his hands dramatically. "They're a window salesman. They broke a window on the far side of the school, threw away the broken window, fired the gun, and then when they left they took the old window with them, and replaced it with a new one."

Jerome swatted his friend on the back of the head as Eddie walked in, looking shell-shocked.

I frowned. "Eddie what's the matter?" I asked.

He cleared his throat. "I just got off the phone with Eric… Monsieur Duval was arrested last night. The police are saying he's the one who shot up the school."

There was silence until the glass in Mara's hand hit the floor with a resounding shatter. "What happened?" she demanded. "How do they know?"

Eddie shrugged listlessly, apparently still trying to take it in himself. "My dad said they got an anonymous tip, searched his house. They found the gun that matched the ballistics from Nina's shooting, and gunpowder residue on some of his clothes. They're bringing them to Nina to see if she can ID them."

Eddie sat down as we all looked around at each other. "I can't believe it," I said. "He always seemed so normal."

"Yeah well I can." We turned to see Joy, looking defensive. "I have got absolutely no trouble believing it.

"What are you talking about?" Amber asked. Joy shrugged defiantly as she shredded her croissant. Amber sighed dismissively. "Well I for one am going to need some time to process this."

"Why?" Joy snapped, glaring at Amber. "No really, what is so hard for you to believe about it being him? Is it because he was young, because he was cute, because he was just _so normal_?"

"Joy." I reached a hand out to place on her shoulder, but she shrugged me off impatiently.

"No see I'm actually curious, Amber. Is it because he looks nice and normal, because he doesn't seem like a _monster_?"

Her voice had gotten louder and at this point Alfie tried to intervene. "Don't yell at her."

Joy steamrollered right over him. "Well, let me tell you something Amber. The really awful monsters? The ones who hide in the dark, the ones little kids are convinced are hiding under their beds, the ones who commit horrible, unspeakable crimes? Those monsters, the worst kinds of monsters. They _never_ look like monsters."

Joy was breathing hard when she finished, her eyes were bright. No one seemed to know what to say. "OK now do that one more time," Jerome said, pulling out his phone. "Except this time, pause dramatically and look straight into the camera at the end, OK?" He held up the phone expectantly and we all laughed uneasily, even Joy managed a smile. Amber still looked hurt though.

As conversation picked back up – everyone steering clear of the Monsieur Duval topic – I leaned across the table to Amber. "Try not to take it personally."

"How else am I supposed to take it?" Amber demanded.

I sighed. "Look Joy's just going through a rough time right now. She's been lashing out at everybody."

Amber frowned and went back to her toast. Not counting Joy's Hollywood moment, one of the highlights of the day was when Jerome called everybody to the living room to look at a card Alfie had made for Nina that he wanted us to sign. On the front was Nina in a hospital gown, with exes over her eyes and her tongue sticking out. The inside read, "Welcome home Nina! We're glad you're not dead!" The members of Anubis House promptly sat Alfie down and held an intervention as to what constituted appropriate card making techniques.

Once Trudy left to pick up Nina around two, we got the 'welcome back – we missed you' banner out of storage. We'd made it when we were thirteen and Mara had left for a few days to go to her aunt's wedding. Alfie and Jerome had wanted to use confetti guns, but Mara had quickly quashed that idea, on account of the noises they made. "We want to show Nina we love her, not give her a panic attack," had been her exact words.

An hour later, when Trudy brought Fabian and Nina back from the hospital, we were waiting in the foyer beneath the banner. We all cheered when they came through the door – Nina keeping a hand against her stomach – and Nina laughed as we went up and hugged her, being careful of the ribs.

"We're really glad you're not dead Nina," Alfie assured her. I stepped on his foot, but Nina didn't seem to mind.

"Thanks Alfie. I'm glad I'm not dead too."

Eventually Nina insisted that all she wanted to do was go up and take a shower, because dry shampoo was useful, but nothing could replace good old-fashioned soap and hot water. She and Amber headed up the stairs and we all switched back over to the living room until she came down half an hour later, hair actually brushed. We pretended not to notice the hand Nina kept over her stomach, but she winced as she sat down and Alfie voiced a concern. "Does it hurt?"

Nina made an attempt at a grin. "If by 'it' you mean my entire body, then yes."

"Why're you back already if you're still in pain?" Mara asked, sounding worried.

Nina shrugged. "Because short of drugging me up to the gills, there's not much the doctors can do about it. Besides, if I spent one more day in that hospital I was going to go crazy. Well, crazier."

One of the thing I dislike most about Victor is his ability to pop up at any point in the house without warning. Today was apparently no exception. "Miss Martin, I need to have a word with you."

"Why?" Nina asked, seeming reluctant to stand.

He raised his eyebrows. "I need to talk to you about what happened on Halloween. Let's go, up to my office."

"But I already talked to the police, and Mr. Sweet." I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Normally Nina would've been halfway up the stairs by now.

"Miss Martin, I am your housemaster am I not?" Victor asked icily. "Now Mr. Sweet would like for you to speak with me about your ordeal so I am best equipped to help you through it. We can do this either publicly or in private, which would you prefer?"

"Can't this wait until tomorrow?" My eyebrows went even higher as I turned to Eddie.

"What was that Mr. Miller?" Victor's voice had officially reached 'booming' and I was a little impressed at how Eddie didn't even flinch.

"All I'm saying is Nina's been through enough lately without reliving all that."

"Eddie it's fine." Grimacing, Nina pushed herself off the couch. "I just want to get it over with."

Nina headed up, and by the time she'd come back down again we'd dissolved into our own bubbles. Amber had roped Jerome and Alfie into a game of go fish, Fabian and Mara were debating something called the Brill-Noether theory, and Joy and Eddie and I were trolling through the house DVD collection.

Between Nina coming back and the news that they'd caught the shooter, no matter who it was, and Trudy convincing Victor to let us stay up to watch _Gnomeo and Juliet_ , the day ended up being a pretty happy one.

It stayed happy when Alfie burnt the popcorn, and when Amber cried at the movie ending, and even when Victor came down at eleven to yell at us to get ourselves to bed ' _right now_ ', and we kept being happy even knowing what we would face later tonight.

At least we thought we knew what we would face.

But I never expected one of my worst nightmares to come true.

 **AN: why didn't Fabian cross over? Why did Monsieur Duval shoot the school up? What could** _ **possibly**_ **be happening with Joy? Is there even something going on with Joy? Or am I just trolling you all? Or is Joy trolling all of her housemates? Was it really Monsieur Duval? Am I trolling you again? You'll have to wait and find ooouuut! *Evil laughter.* Also, I would like to thank a guest reviewer from a few days ago, the one who visited the fanfics out of nostalgia, who left such a kind review that I almost cried while reading it. As a special favor to that reader, I am slightly spoiling you for the next chapter: Victor's POV. Keep in mind this is probably the very last time I will ever spoil you like that, but what can I say I'm feeling generous. This chapter is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, so you're going to want to read it, regardless of the POV. College sucks, see you soon.**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.**


	20. Chapter 18: Victor

**Victor**

 **IMPORTANT. IMPORTANT. IMPORTANT. READ THE AN AT THE END, IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT FUTURE CHAPTER CONTENT. THANKS.**

I waited until midnight to leave the house. I checked in on all the children and Trudy, making sure they were sound asleep, before I pulled on my jacket, said goodbye to Corbierre, and headed over to Isis to meet Bess and Eric. I noticed that my hands were slightly shaking as I walked, but I told myself it was just the cold and moved faster.

The door was unlocked, as she had promised it would be. Normally Bess set our meetings, but this time I had called it, and as such I hadn't been entirely sure she'd agree to it. Eric was at the door when I arrived. We gave each other brief nods before entering, and walked over to her office where students' tests appeared to be grading themselves. I frowned, watching through the window. She sat in her chair, relaxed, head tilted back and arms on their rests. In front of her, a red pen whizzed across sheets of paper, seemingly self-suspended, and every so often a paper would transfer itself to a different pile. Eric and I were accustomed to such displays, but they were still off-putting.

"Come on in boys, the water's fine." Even without seeing her face, I could hear the smirk in her voice.

I clenched my fists, straightened my shoulders, and opened the door, following Eric through.

Bess didn't raise a hand, but the pen gestured impatiently at the chairs before returning to its papers. We sat and waited for her to finish, by now well used to her dismissive mannerisms. Eric however, didn't seem willing to wait much longer. I estimate less than two minutes passed before he started talking.

"You don't regret it at all do you?"

"Shush." Bess didn't even open her eyes.

I glanced at Eric, raising my eyebrows, but he ignored me. "I asked you a question Bess."

"And I ignored it." Finally, she lifted her head up to glance at us. "Why should I reply when we all know the answer? Now please calm down, Mrs. Green is down the hall and a very light sleeper."

"A student was shot and almost died, and you're telling me to calm down?"

"I had a contact at the hospital monitoring her progress, and I have been keeping an eye on her since she got back," I jumped in. "Believe me, Eric, Nina is fine."

He laughed. "Oh, she's _fine_. That's wonderful, that's just wonderful. Nina Martin was legally dead for seven minutes but she's just _fine_."

"Seven minutes? Really?" Bess sounded interested.

Eric nodded sharply. "The doctors filled me in. She coded in the ambulance due to blood loss, and there were complications during the surgery which caused her to flatline." Bess looked pleased about this which only seemed to heighten Eric's distress. "I told you not to do this. I told you I would not stand by it, but you assured me no one would be hurt and so against my better judgement, I agreed. Victor didn't even have time to find the Book of the Dead, leaving us with less than nothing, and me with the problem of hiring a new French teacher."

"That man was a pedophile and you know it. Or do you need to see his phone again?"

"Eric try to calm down." I put a hand on his shoulder but he ignored me.

"Try to calm down?" He looked at me in disbelief, seeming more than a little betrayed. "Victor this is one of _your_ students, I would think you'd show a little more concern."

"As I told you before, Miss Martin is fine, and I will continue to check up on her and make certain that she stays that way." Even before I finished talking he was shaking his head.

"How am I the only one who sees anything wrong with what happened?"

Bess had resumed her former relaxed position. "Honestly Eric I really don't see what all the fuss is about."

"YOU DON'T SEE WHAT ALL THE FUSS IS ABOUT?"

"Would you be quiet?" I hissed, leaping up to check down the hall, making sure no one had heard anything. A few tense moments passed, and then I resumed my seat. I turned to berate Eric only to find that his mouth was opening and closing furiously, but no sound was coming out.

"Once you've decided you're capable of using your indoor voice, you'll be able to speak again." I wanted to ask Bess if this was really necessary, but the ice in her voice told me that wouldn't go over well. Eric started to stand up, but my ears popped as the pressure dropped and some invisible force slammed him back into his chair. I wrinkled my nose, trying not to breathe too deeply as the scent of sulfur filled the room. "You want to know why I am entirely calm Eric? I will tell you. The girl is fine and the police believe they have apprehended the person responsible. After receiving an anonymous tip, they found the gun and the clothes in his apartment. Tonight, or early tomorrow morning, the man they have arrested will be found to have hung himself in his cell. The text messages I showed you with one of his students should be more than enough to satisfy you that a, shall we say bad person, is going away for his crimes. Even if the crime he was arrested for was not one he committed, if anyone deserved to be imprisoned it was him." Her eyes turned to slits, and when she smiled she appeared to have fangs. "My partner feels very unkindly towards those who commit crimes against children."

She waved her hand and Eric made a choking noise as his voice was restored. "I'm assuming that concern doesn't extend to children named Nina Martin." Bess smiled and Eric's scowl deepened. "You know I'm still not sure you didn't plant those texts just to appease me. I interviewed Jacques Duval personally, he is a good man."

"A good man who was sexually harassing one of his students." Bess raised her eyebrows and opened up her drawer, pulled out a phone and started reading out fragments of texts. "'The moment I saw you sitting there, I knew I loved you.' 'Please start wearing longer uniform skirts unless you want to meet me in the copy room, dot dot dot,'" she paused for dramatic effect before continuing, "'And we won't be making copies.' 'I know you're worried about the age difference and that you say you're only 17, but when I kissed you after class today I've never felt more alive. I know you'll eventually feel the same way I do.' 'Now that I know the taste of your lips, how much longer must I wait to taste the rest of you?' 'I'm still waiting on those photographs. Come now darling, I thought you wanted to pass your French class.'"

"That's enough." I was growing nauseous just listening. "He gets it."

Eric still seemed unconvinced however. "If you'd just tell me who the student is so I could confirm it —"

"Sorry but no can do. I think the poor girl's privacy has been violated enough, don't you?"

"Can we move on please? We are wasting time." After losing his voice Eric seemed more cautious than before of provoking Bess, and so I took this moment to draw the meeting back to the reason I called it. "I interviewed Miss Martin, and I am confident she is in the dark as to who her true attacker was. As far as I can tell, she remembers everything else, and so there is no danger of it coming back to her at a later date."

"Right, so the poor girl is going to think she's safe, when really the person who shot her is going to stand right in front of her in a classroom and teach her history five times a week."

"Would you rather I stood right in front of her in a classroom and taught her biology five times a week?" Bess somehow managed to inject equal measures of acid and humor into her question.

"I'd rather you hadn't shot her at all, but I think it's safe to assume we're well past that point." I would be lying if I said I wasn't somewhat impressed with the spinal cord Eric seemed to have sprouted.

"Why did you do it?" They both turned to look at me.

Bess gave a graceful shrug. "I was conducting an experiment."

"An _experiment?_ " Bess swiftly glared at Eric, and his jaw slammed shut.

"What did I say about using your indoor voice?" she asked sweetly.

"Considering the fact that I wasn't able to find the Book of the Dead in time, it must've been a pretty important experiment. I think we have a right to know what it was."

She laughed, high and cold. "You have a right to know? Victor, as of right now you barely have a right to live, let alone ask questions. You know, considering the help I'm giving you with that little problem of yours, I think you forfeit any 'rights' you may have had to demand answers from me, don't you?" I didn't respond. I answered to her and we both knew it. I was as good as a puppet.

"Well I'm not taking any of your damned medicine, and I would like to know why you shot one of my students." Eric's voice was tight, but the volume was controlled.

Bess frowned, considering him carefully as the last of the papers was graded and the pen fell to the desk with a clatter. "If you can give me a good reason as to why I should tell you, I might actually do just that."

Eric straightened his shoulders. "I'll go to the police and tell them they got the wrong man if you don't. I'll tell them you told me your plans and that I didn't stop you."

Bess gave a girlish giggle that seemed more suited to Amber Millington than it did this… woman. "Oh, you are fun, aren't you? So self-righteous." She propped her elbows up on the desk and leaned forwards. "You're not going to go to the police Eric. You're not going to go to anybody, and do you know why? Your son is already furious at you for what you did to his girlfriend and housemates two years ago. How do you think he'll react if he finds out you're the reason Nina Martin got shot? You know how Osirians are, always so overprotective of their precious Chosen Ones. I don't think he'd ever forgive you, and so you'll do everything in your power to make sure he never finds out you had anything to do with this." Eric rubbed a hand over his eyes and Bess laughed again. "Oh, what the hell. Since we're on the subject of your son anyway, I'll tell you."

"What?" Eric's back straightened and he looked up at her. "What do you mean about my son? Are you going to shoot him too?"

"Don't be ridiculous," she said coolly. "I'm talking about how he saved that girl's life."

Her words seemed to ring slowly through my head, each causing more and more confusion. I wasn't the only one. "He… what?" Eric had gained the appearance of a man drowning. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm a very good shot. I knew exactly where to shoot Nina so that she'd bleed out in a matter of minutes. Nice, and slow, and messy." I recoiled slightly as she smiled, seeming to relish the words coming out of her mouth. "Now _her_ powers aren't that strongly manifested yet, not strong enough to save her by themselves, proving my theory that the accident that killed her parents was a fluke. This time, all she could do was try to hold on. She held on to her Osirian. Your son." Eric started shaking his head but she kept talking. "The two of them are connected. They can track each other, see through each other's eyes and into each other's minds, save each other's lives if it comes down to it and it came down to it. I wanted to see if the bond was strong enough; if Edison was strong enough to hold onto her and she to him. The fact of the matter is, Nina Martin could have died on Halloween, but she didn't, almost like she should have died seven years ago. And now I have the answers my partner and I needed."

"You're mad," Eric whispered.

"So it's been said." She smiled innocently. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have calls to make and a man to hang."

I could tell Eric wanted to stay and argue but I grabbed his arm. "Thank you for meeting us, we'll see you tomorrow. Won't we Eric?"

Looking furious, he allowed me to lead him out. I thought we would part ways at the exit and he would head back to the other faculty dorm. Instead however, he followed me back to Anubis and into my office. I sat down and gestured for him to do the same, but he stood there glaring at me.

"Isn't there anything you're going to say?"

I sighed, rubbing my temples. I could already feel another headache coming on. "What am I supposed to say?"

He folded his arms and I suddenly longed for the days of the Society, back when it was Eric and Daphne and me and the others, working together, answering to me. Back when immortality seemed not just attainable, but reasonable. "How about you say you're happy Nina's not dead. That would be a good place to start. Or how about you tell me you had no idea that she was planning to shoot the poor girl, to use her and my son in some twisted experiment. I don't even know the questions she was asking."

"I'm happy Nina is not dead, and I had no idea Bess was planning to shoot her." The words were true, but came out sounding robotic, automatic. Insincere.

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Eric," I started, but he cut me off.

"Victor you heard what she said in there. Nina should have died. Bess could have murdered a student, a seventeen-year-old girl, and been perfectly at peace with herself. How are you all right with this? How do you follow all her orders without question?"

"I owe her a favor," I ground out.

"For what?" he demanded. "What could possibly be so important that you would willingly compromise the safety of these children?" I didn't answer, and Eric sighed impatiently. "If she's going to go around executing students at random, I will have no part of this, no matter our history Victor. Do you understand me?" I nodded. "Good." He adjusted his jacket and made for the door before pausing and turning back to me. "You know there was a time I would have done anything for you."

I ignored the tight feeling in my throat. "I know. There was a time I would have done anything for you too, old friend."

"So you understand why I have to draw a line in the sand?"

"I do."

"Victor." I looked up at him. "Whatever she's helping you with… I sincerely hope it's worth it."

I closed my eyes and heard the door open and close, straining my ears to hear his footsteps down the stairs of the otherwise silent house. Once I was certain he'd left, I lifted a shaking hand up to my head. If I concentrated, I imagined I could feel it there, pulsating under the skin. Brain aneurysms had no symptoms, I knew I was beyond lucky to have caught it when I did, and not during a potentially fatal stroke. On the other hand, I missed the days I hadn't known I was a dead man walking.

I sighed, leaning over to stroke Corbierre. "It's not that I want the children to die," I explained. "Besides, it's not like Bess would actually kill them. She expected the Miller boy to save her." He stared at me unblinkingly, and I let the feeling of his feathers under my fingers soothe me. "Eric will come around eventually and everything will be just fine Corbierre. You'll see."

 **AN: short chapter, I know. Sorry guys. This was mostly meant as a catch-up so you could see what's going on with these three. Should I call them villains? Or bad guys? The terrible trio? I'm open to suggestions.**

 **Now for the IMPORTANT. IMPORTANT. IMPORTANT.**

 **I have the story's plot pretty much planned out, but I'm struggling to come up with more rooms/trials. So, I am opening a contest submission thing. If you can think of a room, or a trial, or a dream task Sibuna has to complete, put it in a review or PM me or both, (I'm more likely to see a review) and if it winds up in the story I'll give you full credit. Thanks in advance. College still sucks, I'll write when I can.**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.**


	21. Chapter 19: Nina

**Nina**

Generally speaking I wasn't in the habit of letting Joy into my room for friendly activities. I wasn't in the habit of doing friendly anything's with Joy really, but during the last task, she and Patricia and Amber had had some sort of climbing wall that Joy had fallen off halfway up. It had been her first dream death and she was still pretty freaked out, which meant she was in my room with Patricia, Alfie and Amber as I was interrogated.

"Armenian," tried Alfie.

"Ayo yes hayeren yem khosum. Fluent." After finding out that my linguistic capabilities weren't

limited to Japanese and Russian, Patricia and Alfie had taken it upon themselves to get a comprehensive list of all the languages I was capable of speaking. Patricia had come up with the categories of 'fluent in', 'passable in', and 'if dropped in the middle of a country that only speaks this language you could survive in'. For the fluent category, we were at twenty-seven and counting. I was grateful for the distraction.

"Turkish," tried Joy, who was scrolling through google translate for options.

"Evet ben konuşmak Türkçe. Fluent."

Amber made a noise of impatience and raised her hand before speaking. "Estonian!"

I drew in a breath as I wrapped the blanket I was using tighter around my shoulders. "Jah, aga mitte hästi. I speak it, but not fluently."

They cheered, which I ignored, and Patricia made a mark in the second column before saying, "Punjabi."

"Hāṁ maiṁ pajābī bōladā hāṁ. Fluent." More groans.

"You know we have no idea what she's saying. For all we know she's just spouting gibberish," Amber suggested.

"Hey!" I complained, as Patricia and Joy laughed.

"Well, short of learning Greek, German, Filipino and two dozen other languages ourselves, we can't exactly check her, now can we?" said Patricia.

"How did you even get into this anyway?" Amber demanded. "You learnt most of these when you were what. Twelve?"

I considered. "Ten to twelve, yeah."

" _How?_ I mean, come on. Learning this many languages, in that little time? It's not humanly possible."

"I spent a lot of time in libraries," I answered with a shrug.

Amber seemed keen on dragging a more in depth answer out of me, but the others steamrolled over her questions, for which I was grateful. When the categories had hit thirty-three, seventeen, and two, respectively, Mara knocked on the door before entering.

"Hey Joy, I finished editing your English essay if you wanted to go over it?" She held up what I assumed was the essay, marked thoroughly in red ink.

"Yeah, thanks Mara," Joy said as she stood.

Mara handed her the essay as Joy walked out the door before giving the rest of us a disapproving look. "Shouldn't you all be doing homework?"

"How dare you!" said Alfie, in mock outrage. "We are in the midst of very serious work at home. Working. Very serious home working is going on here."

Mara shook her head with a smile and left.

They kept at me until dinnertime, which mostly consisted of Patricia and Alfie loudly insisting to Eddie about how he was clearly an inferior American. Afterwards, Amber was brushing out her hair for the umpteenth time as she complained about going back to school in two days. I chimed in with the occasional, 'yeah', 'it sucks', and 'really?!' whenever she paused. I was more focused on last night's dream. Eddie and I had used scarily unstable monkey bars to get across the lava after Patricia, Amber and Joy climbed out of their room, and Fabian and Alfie had somehow gotten out of the spider room but were refusing to tell us how; although both looked fairly nauseous whenever we brought it up. We'd met in an empty room with the keys we'd used to get out of our respective chambers, and opened another door that had featured a seven-foot woman with purple skin, telling us the upcoming trials would be different than the rest, and that we had three days to prepare. I wasn't sure if that meant we wouldn't cross over tonight, or if we just wouldn't be able to control where we went, and I wasn't exactly eager to find out.

"NINA." I jumped, and turned to see a very disgruntled Amber. "You haven't heard a word I've said have you?"

I coughed as my face heated up. "Um, could you repeat that last bit?"

Amber harrumphed, loudly, and went back to brushing her hair, rather aggressively, I felt. "Why are you so out of it? Is it because you got shot? Because you got the stitches out yesterday and the doctors said you're going to be fine."

I ignored the imaginary press of metal against my stomach as I pulled on my pajama shirt. "It's nothing Amber, I'm just a little tired."

My roommate raised her eyebrows at me and I quickly looked away. "You've gotten a lot better at lying, I'll give you that. But you're still awful at it."

"Amber, look, I just don't want to talk about it. Alright?" She shrugged nonchalantly and I exhaled, rubbing at my arms as I tried to warm myself. "Thank you."

Amber started humming a tune I didn't recognize, and it was a peaceful few seconds before she tried again. "Does it have anything to do with why you've been avoiding Fabian ever since you got back from the hospital?"

My mouth opened and closed as I spun around to see her looking at me expectantly. "I have _not_ been avoiding him," I stammered.

She rolled her eyes. "Please."

"How do you even –"

"Woman's intuition. Now what's the problem?"

"Nothing! Look, Amber there's no problem, ok? I've just been a little busy." So maybe that wasn't entirely true, but I didn't have time to think about my technically non-existent Fabian issues at the moment, along with everything else going on.

"Busy? With what? Our nonexistent schoolwork? Or the doctor's ordered bedrest?"

I sighed in defeat. "You're relentless, you know that?"

Amber beamed, beatifically. "It's a point of pride. Spill."

"It's really not a big deal, Amber."

"Nina Martin." Amber planted her hands on her hips and I mentally braced myself. "We are BFFs, best female friends, and as such you are obligated to tell me about any and all problems involving your BF, so I can yell at him. We can do this all night if you want."

I blew out a breath. "Not that it's any of your business, I just… have a couple decisions to make."

"About what?" she pressed.

I smiled tightly. "Like I said, it's really none of your business."

"Alright, alright. I'll leave it alone."

"Thank you."

"For the next forty-eight hours."

I couldn't help it. I laughed. Amber winked at me as I headed to the bathroom. I was brushing my teeth when it happened.

I leaned over to spit out the toothpaste and raised my eyes to the mirror and suddenly I couldn't breathe from fear. He was there, in the reflection. All in black, with that goddamn ski mask, the silver gun in his hand the only splash of color on his person. "Look at me Ms. Martin."

There was cold, sudden and harsh in my veins and in my stomach, I seemed to have frozen all over. I wasn't sure if I was breathing or hyperventilating. I could almost feel the gun to my stomach, the weight of it, the warmth that came from the recent firings a sharp contrast to the iciness of my skin. "I said." The gun cocked. "Look at me Ms. Martin."

Someone knocked on the door and I nearly screamed. "Can I come in?" It was Joy.

I pressed a shaking hand to my mouth, struggling to get my breathing back under control as I looked back at the mirror. No one was there. I swallowed. "Yeah sure." I quickly swiped at the spot of toothpaste on my chin before opening the door.

As Joy got a glance at me, her face changed to something that could almost pass for concern. "Nina are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Not sure why she even cared, I forced a smile. "Fine Joy. See you in the morning."

I headed back to my room before she could ask any other questions, to find Amber removing the last of her makeup, and slipped underneath the covers, trying to warm myself.

"Get the lights would you?" I called.

Amber said something I ignored as I pressed freezing fingers to the scar tissue on my stomach. It seemed like I was cold all day every day, ever since I got back. I was also spending progressively more time alone in my room, trying to shut out the world, as I laid in bed feeling awful. Another wave of shivers swept over me and I focused on my scar, feeling the grooves, the ridges from where they'd cut into me to remove the bullet. It had happened. It was over. It was over. Over. Over. Over. I repeated it to myself until I fell asleep. It was over.

* * *

"Look at me Ms. Martin."

The gun came up to hit me on the side of the face, pain exploding, the scent of copper in the air, I couldn't see for the blood in my eye.

"Look at me Ms. Martin."

I could almost feel each individual bone in my spine bend as he forced me back over the desk and slammed the gun up against my stomach. I was frozen all over, an icicle of a girl. I was surprised I didn't shatter into a million pieces.

"Look at me Ms. Martin."

His voice was everywhere and nowhere at once, I tried to look I just couldn't find him.

"I said."

Everything seemed to go unnaturally still as the gun cocked in the sudden silence.

"Look at me Ms. Martin."

There was the click of the trigger being pulled and then everything hurt like hell and I couldn't breathe and there was blood on my hands and on my stomach and I was falling falling falling –

My eyes flew open as I choked on air and there were hands on my shoulders and I tried to scream, tried to shove him away.

"Nina calm down!"

I blinked, and my vision slowly shifted into focus and I saw blonde hair, a round face, eyes shining with concern.

"Amber," I gasped out, grabbing her hands and pressing them between my clammy fingers, needing to know that she was real. "Amber."

"Yes, finally. Nina, what happened?"

I almost laughed at the irony of it. "Nightmare."

Her eyes widened. "You crossed over?"

"Not –" I shook my head, still trying to catch my breath. "Not that kind of nightmare. Did I wake you?"

Amber hesitated before shaking her head. "No of course not. I was doing my morning calisthenics."

I laughed weakly, and pushed my sweaty hair out of my face. "You don't do calisthenics."

"Not lately, but I'm starting back up again."

"Amber."

"Ok fine. So you woke me up, so what?"

"I'm sorry," I grimaced.

She shrugged. "It wasn't your fault. What was it about?"

I wiped some sweat – because it was sweat, not tears – off my cheek and swallowed. "Halloween."

Amber sighed and pulled me in for a hug. I closed my eyes and leaned into her. This, this was real. It had just been a nightmare, nothing else. By the time she pulled back, my eyes were dry.

"Nina, do you need to see someone about this?"

I raised my eyebrows. "What, you mean like a counselor?" Amber nodded and I laughed. "I'm American remember? We don't believe in therapy."

She frowned. "What about if someone has depression?"

I shrugged. "For the most part we tell them it's all in their head, and then when they kill themselves we wonder how we missed the signs."

Amber looked shocked. "That doesn't seem very healthy."

"It's not. But I'm still not doing therapy. I don't need it."

"Neens, are you sure?"

I did my best to smile reassuringly. "Amber, it was one nightmare. It's not a big deal." She still didn't look convinced so I squeezed her hand. "Go back to bed, Amber. I promise I'm fine." To convince her, I laid back down and drew the covers up.

Amber didn't seem entirely pleased about it, but she headed back to her side of the room as I again pressed my fingers into the scar. It's over. It's over. It's over.

"Look at me Ms. Martin."

I flinched away from his voice, rolling over to look at the wall, digging my fingers into where he'd shot me until I gasped from the pain. I waited, but his voice seemed to have been silenced for now. Didn't stop me from tossing and turning to the point where my sheets were soaked with sweat until my alarm went off two hours later.

I slapped it off, and mechanically got ready for the day; jeans, long sleeves, and an oversized hoodie. My battle gear. I somehow managed to pull back my hair into something resembling a knot at the back of my head, before heading downstairs an hour after breakfast. Most of the others were in the living room, when I came down, and Jerome gave a long whistle when he saw me. "You look like shit," he announced, causing the others to look.

I scowled. "Thank you, for your diagnosis."

He smiled angelically. "Always happy to help."

"Get off it Jerome," Fabian intervened, already walking over.

I grabbed a glass and filled it to the brim as he placed a hand on my shoulder. His skin felt warm, making me want to lean into him. I didn't. "Thanks," I muttered.

I looked away as he bit his lip. "Nina, you really don't look like you're doing that well. Are you ok?"

"Fine. Amber told you I was tired right?"

"Yeah but… you didn't cross over did you?"

I was busy swallowing the entire cup and didn't answer for a few seconds. "No. Just tired."

"Nina –"

"I'm going back to bed." I put the cup back in the sink and turned away, trying very hard not to look at him as I started to head back into the foyer.

"Nina?" Fabian grabbed my arm, forcing me to look at him. I didn't move as he raised a hand to my face, gently touching a finger to my still prominent black eye. "You'd tell me if anything was wrong, right?"

I swallowed thickly and tried not to blink. "Like I said, I'm really tired." I shook him off and went back upstairs, shutting the door once I reached my room. My eyes were alternating between feeling dry as a desert, and boiling hot. I pressed my shaking fingers into them, before literally falling back into bed, pulling the covers around myself until only my head was visible.

Not wanting to deal with anyone right now, I pulled out my phone and spent the next few hours trolling through YouTube, watching comedians. Every time I felt myself drifting off, or heard his voice, I'd dig my fingers into the scar on my stomach and focus on breathing, ignoring the feeling that I'd accidentally swallowed liquid nitrogen. It worked pretty well. I didn't even realize how much time had passed until I was ambushed at half past two.

The door cracked open. "Nina?" It was Amber. "Can I come in?"

"It's your room isn't it?" I answered, nestling deeper into the blankets.

"Great. Come on in everyone!"

"Every –" I sat up to see that in addition to Amber, Alfie, Eddie, and Patricia were piling in, along with a seemingly reluctant Joy. I sighed, and fell back into my pillows. "What are you doing?"

"We're worried about you, Nina. You don't seem… great." Alfie sounded so sincere I wanted to laugh as I sat back up.

"If you're worried about me you can get in line."

"Speaking as someone who has experience in dealing with traumatic events," announced Patricia, "I have full authority in saying you can't just cut yourself off and spend all your time wallowing."

I rolled my eyes. "What is this an intervention now?"

"Don't think of it as an intervention," said Amber. "Think of it as a cheer up session. We have four different kinds of sour candy, two bowls of popcorn and your three favorite Harry Potter movies downstairs waiting for you. Mara and Jerome are going to hide in her room so she doesn't critique the special effects and/or lack of realism, plus Jerome and Alfie have agreed to not set anything else on fire for the rest of the day."

That got my attention. "I'm sorry, anything _else_ on fire?"

"It was an _accident_ ," insisted Alfie.

Amber waved a hand at him dismissively. "Irrelevant. The point is, you're coming down with us, end of story. Come on! Up and at 'em!" I groaned as she pulled the blankets back and dragged me out of bed. "Also, I'm brushing your hair tonight, because it's a mess."

"It's not that bad," I tried to protest as I was steered down the stairs.

"Oh really? Pray tell, when was the last time you brushed it exactly?" I mumbled something unintelligible and she nodded firmly. "Like I said."

We reached the living room and she shoved me onto the couch, and she and Patricia promptly sat down on either side of me. I could tell Fabian was on the chair to my right, and I focused most of my willpower on not looking at him as Eddie put _Chamber of Secrets_ into the DVD player and killed the lights.

After the last scene ended, with everyone hugging Hagrid and applauding, and the credits started, I am not ashamed to say I was full on ugly crying.

Patricia found this amusing to no end, and threw popcorn at me every time I choked out the words 'it's so beautiful'.

By the time we finished _Goblet of Fire_ , I'd taken my hair down and I was crying again, there was sour string everywhere, and Amber was physically sitting on top of Alfie, since he'd thrown sour gummy worms at the TV every time Wormtail came on screen. ("He killed Cedric!" Alfie protested vehemently, as Amber wrestled the candy bowl away from him.)

Eddie grabbed the _Sorcerer's Stone_ , and I frowned. "Wait what about _Deathly Hallows Part 2?_ "

I was immediately shouted down, Patricia's voice rising above the rest. "You always complain about the final fight scene," she informed me. " _While_ it's happening."

I crossed my arms, both for defiance and to fight off the goosebumps. "Ok first off, the inaccuracy gives me actual physical pain, and second, the complaining is half the fun."

"Sorry Chosen One, but shot or not, you've been overruled on this issue," Eddie informed me with a grin, as he put in the first movie. I threw a handful of popcorn at him and settled back into the couch. I got up to get some water during the first scene about Quidditch lessons, and Fabian came over to join me in the kitchen.

"Feeling better?" he asked me quietly, as Patricia cackled when Ron's broom smacked him in the face.

I smiled, trying not to look at him. "Yeah, lots." I was feeling better. I didn't feel a hairs breadth away from sobbing my eyes out, and my fingers no longer seemed to be unnaturally cold.

"Good. That's, that's good." He was standing so close to me I could feel the heat of his skin, making it very difficult to breathe. "Nina we're good right?"

"Of course we are. What are you talking about?" I shut off the water flow and walked over to the oven, feeling the need to move away from him before I lost it.

He followed me. "I'm talking about how you've hardly looked at me since you got back from the hospital. You're barely speaking to me either."

I rolled the glass between my palms before taking a sip, stalling for time. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Look at me then."

He was right behind me, I could sense him. I counted to five to calm myself, took another sip, and then turned around and looked him directly in the eye. I could almost feel my body temperature physically rising. He was mere inches away from me. My eyes darted down to his lips before I jerked them back up again. We hadn't kissed since coming home from the hospital either. "See?" I said, ignoring the shakiness in my voice as I stepped around him, eager to break eye contact. I took another drink from my glass before setting it on the counter. "Nothing to worry about."

"For God's sake," he muttered, and I didn't have time to think about what he meant because suddenly his hands were on my cheeks and his lips were on mine and Jesus Christ it felt better than I remembered. I felt my hands move to his shoulders as he drew back and looked at me, and I didn't want to look away anymore. "Nina, _what's wrong with us?_ "

I didn't want to answer, so instead I kissed him again, and again, his mouth was fire under mine, sending pure, glorious heat through my veins. I opened my mouth to his, smoothing my hands down his neck, faintly feeling his shoulder blades through the shirt he was wearing. While I was doing that, Fabian undid the zipper on my jacket, wrapping his arms around me, his hands scorching everywhere they touched through my thin top. I pulled him closer, needing his warmth, needing him, trying to fit our bodies as tightly together as possible.

"Nina! You're going to miss meeting Oliver Wood!" Amber called over, and I pulled away from him, only slightly, already missing him. Fabian's hands stayed where they were though, one on my waist, the other at my lower back. He seemed to be as out of breath as I was.

"Like I said." I licked my lips. "Totally fine."

He nodded briefly. "You do know kissing isn't a substitute for actually talking, right?"

I buried my face in his neck, letting him warm me. "I know." I pulled back to look him in the eye again. "Look. You didn't do anything, ok? I'm just working through some stuff right now."

"Let me help you work through it," he begged.

I opened my mouth to answer but a, "Ninaaaa! You're missing it!" from Amber cut me off.

"Look, I promise we're fine. But if you really want to talk, we'll talk. Just not right now," I said, and quickly walked back over to the others, reclaiming my place on the couch.

"Isn't Wood one of your favorite characters?" asked Alfie, as Fabian went back to the chair.

Everyone else immediately started yelling at him, something along the lines of 'don't get her started you idiot!'. The second they quieted down I cleared my throat expectantly and they groaned. "That is only the Oliver Wood in the books, the Wood in the movies underwent a character assassination the likes of which have not been seen since Abraham Lincoln. Movie Wood has all the personification of an actual piece of wood. He's always supposed to have a 'maniacal glint' in his eye, Quidditch is supposed to be life or death, he's supposed to tell Harry to 'get the snitch or die trying'. _That_ Wood, is my favorite character. Not this half-assed carbon copy version."

"Ok whatever, we get it, he's not crazy enough," interrupted Patricia.

"Oh my God shut up he's about to learn his father played Quidditch!" I smacked Patricia with every word out of my mouth, and I'm pretty sure she called me a 'hypocrite', but my focus was back on the screen.

Victor came down a few minutes after the movie ended and yelled at us to clean up and get to bed. Trudy was close behind him, broom and trash bags in hand, and quickly shooed us to our rooms, insisting she would take care of it. Amber, Patricia, and Joy and I ran upstairs, tired but laughing, all crowding around the sink to wash the stickiness off our faces. Afterwards, Amber made good on her earlier promise and practically attacked my hair with a brush, not stopping until it was smooth and shiny. By the time Victor dropped his pin, I was nestled under the covers, slightly less cold, and a whole lot happier than I'd been this morning.

My eyes were drifting shut when my phone pinged with a text. Amber made an indistinguishable noise of complaint. "Sorry," I whispered, reaching over to grab it. Wincing against the sudden light, I shut the brightness all the way down before checking to see who it was from. Fabian. _Hey. You up?_

I raised my eyebrows, unsure whether to message back. It could be important. I typed up five possible messages before eventually sending, _Barely. You need something?_

 _Nothing major, just wanted good night. See you tomorrow._

My eyebrows went up even higher as I ignored the warm feeling his text elicited from me. Nothing else came though, so I sent one back. _Well then?_

 _Well what?_

I allowed myself a small smile. _Aren't you going to say good night?_

There was a small pause, and then the text pinged through. _Good night Nina._

I gripped the bedsheets with one hand to make sure I wasn't floating. _Good night._

* * *

"So Nina, how are you?"

I shut my locker and turned to face Amber, ignoring the stares that had been pointed at me ever since I walked into school this morning. I tried not to think about the why. "Fine, why?"

Amber shrugged, and beckoned me in closer. Sighing, I leaned in to hear her whisper, "Well we just had science, and that's the room where it happened right? Can't returning to the scene of a trauma be triggering for some people? Or something?"

I hoisted my bag up higher on my shoulder. "Well you can relax, because nothing was triggered. I just wish people would stop staring at me."

"They're just jealous that even with a black eye you're still prettier than they are," said Amber flippantly.

She linked her arm through mine and started steering me over to calculus as I laughed. "Somehow I doubt that's the reas – oh my God!" I stopped moving so suddenly Amber's arm pulled out of mine.

"What, what is it?" she demanded, looking around.

I glanced at her in disbelief, before turning my gaze back to what had grabbed my attention. "I don't suppose you see a giant, purple woman, standing in the hallway do you?"

Amber looked around the hallway again before frowning at me in concern. "You mean like the one from our dreams a few nights ago?"

"Yep."

Amber sighed as the woman started walking over until she was right in front of me, shrinking with each step she took until she was eye level. "Nina are you sure you don't need to see somebody?" I ignored the question.

"Only you can see me," Purple said. "Follow me, I come with a message."

"I can't just _leave_ ," I hissed, ignoring Amber's strange look. "I'm at _school_ , I have class right now." Whether or not she heard me, I wasn't sure, as she simply headed towards the doors, gesturing at me impatiently.

"Um, Nina? Who are you talking to?"

" _Spirits,_ " I muttered angrily, before huffing out a breath of exasperation and turning back to Amber. "Nothing. Look, I'll be a bit late to class, just go on without me."

I started to head over to the doors but Amber grabbed me. "What am I supposed to tell the teacher if she asks where you are?"

I shrugged her off. "Just say you don't know or something. Hopefully this won't take that long."

Before she could ask more questions I headed towards the exit, doing my best not to look guilty. I pushed open the door and saw her already waiting on the other side of the parking lot. I said a few very uncomplimentary things about Egyptians under my breath as I walked over, and when I reached where Purple was standing, she simply reappeared a couple dozen yards in another direction. This kept up until we were in the woods behind school, and this time when I got to where she was, she stayed stationary. I gave her a once-over as I waited for her to say something. It wasn't just her skin that was purple, but her hair, and her nails; even her eyes were nothing but purple shapes in her head. She was wearing some sort of dress that reminded me of Nepthys' attire, but instead white, she was clothed in a blue so deep it was almost black. She seemed content to just stand in silence, watching each other, so after a little while I took the initiative. "Can I help you with something?" I tried to sound as polite as possible, but I really should not have been missing any calculus classes at the moment, given my tenuous at best grasp of the subject.

Purple sighed. "I wish. Rather, I am here to help you." She stepped forward and I immediately stepped back.

"With what?"

Her purple lips twisted into some imitation of a smile. "Relax, Chosen One. I come bearing gifts."

"What gifts?"

"Information, for one." She folded her purple hands together, clearly waiting for me to ask for details, but given my past encounters with Egyptian spirits, I was more than a little wary. Eventually she sighed and continued. "You are currently on a quest to free my goddess, correct?"

I shrugged, folding my arms against myself. "I don't know. We're not exactly sure what we're doing." I think she might've rolled her eyes, but I couldn't be sure.

"Dear me, you're in even worse shape than I thought. Allow me to fill you in, shall I?" She held up a hand and began ticking off fingers. "The spirit realm was thrown into chaos over your summer when Beset forsook her role as protector. She raised a coup against Nepthys, whom she imprisoned. Nepthys is now locked away in a prison I can neither reach nor see. Beset needs the Book of the Dead before she can take Nepthys' place, and so Nepthys sent it to you for safekeeping. She reached out to you, because as Horus' Chosen One, you have the potential to use the Book of the Dead to cross between realms. Her strength is rapidly waning however, and so she has been unable to instruct you as much as she might wish."

"Wait hold on." I raised a hand to shield myself against the onslaught of information. "Are you saying you're gods and you're at war?"

" _Civil_ war, pet. Much bloodier."

I nodded slowly. "So, we're interfering in a civil war."

I think she rolled her eyes again. "Oh don't make it sound like you had a choice in the matter. Once Nepthys gave you the Book of the Dead, Beset would've found a way to drag you into it one way or the other."

"That's… not helping."" Purple shrugged placidly as I got a text from Patricia, asking where I was I texted, _Busy, be there later_ , and shut my phone off. I was already ten minutes late. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say Beset has green skin and a battle ax?" Looking amused by my description, she nodded and I sighed. "Not that I don't appreciate the clarifications, but is there some sort of specific reason why you're here?"

"I'm here because your lack of control, while utterly laughable, makes you vulnerable."

I frowned. "Control of what? Vulnerable to who?"

If she had eyebrows I imagine she would've raised them. "You really don't know anything do you?" Before I had time to answer she started ticking off fingers again. "The realm you go to in your dreams? It's a different plane than this. These planes overlap, and normally they do this seamlessly with nobody the wiser. But ever since Beset took over, holes have been forming, and when the holes in our plane and yours intersect, you, and anyone else with the capabilities, pass over. A particularly large hole is currently resting directly over your boarding house. Its openings come and go."

The more information she gave me, the harder my brain had to work to wrap around it, but if I knew one thing about spirits, it was that arguing tended to end up worse for me than it did for them. "And who has these, capabilities you mentioned?"

More finger ticking. I'd lost count of how many fingers she'd grown to keep up. "You and the Osirian, naturally. And anyone else you've given your little charms to."

"Wait," I interrupted. "So if they don't use those objects I, spelled, or whatever it was I did, they can't cross over?"

"Not at first, but now it's too late. However all that is of little importance right now. I'm here for the rules."

"What rules?"

" _The_ rules. While the holes in the planes are large, they have limits. They can only be passed through twice every twenty-four hours, once to get to the other side, and once to come back. I am here, in addition to giving you a warning, to show you how to cross of your own volition."

At risk of sounding even more idiotic than she already thought I was, I dared another question. "But don't we already control when we cross? That's what the objects are for."

She snorted derisively. "Hardly. The objects act as a beacon, drawing Nepthys to you, and warding Beset off, allowing Nepthys to control where you land when you cross. Beset has set these trials to guard against both Nepthys taking you directly to her prison, and also you reaching her, so you must pass through them all. But as Nepthys' strength lessens, so does her ability to direct you. Soon, charms or not, Beset will control where you land. And now that your friends have passed through once, she will be able to drag them through again and again, so long as they are in the hole."

I remembered a few days after Halloween, when everyone but Fabian had crossed over. We'd assumed he'd gotten lucky, but apparently it was because he'd been at the hospital with me. "What about when we stopped crossing over a few weeks ago?"

"The planes shift, like anything else." She said it so matter-of-factly it was almost insulting. "The hole above your house closed up, and you were cut off. And a few days ago? This may not be my battlefield of choice, but I do have some modicum of power. I was able to place a barrier between our planes, give you a few days to brace yourselves."

Not that I hadn't been interested before, but I perked up when she seemed to bring up the last conversation we'd had. "Brace ourselves against what? You weren't very specific last time."

I blinked and suddenly she was a few inches in front of me, causing me to stumble back in shock. She laughed, rather cruelly, and I felt my cheeks flush as I regained my footing. Purple looked like she was mostly bored throughout the entire meeting, reciting information like a bad monologue, aside from when I was making a fool of myself. That she seemed to enjoy. "I always forget how fragile you humans are." Unwilling to repeat the question, I folded my arms around myself and waited for her to answer. "The trials before now, they have been physical, yes? Tasks for you to outsmart, or overcome."

I nodded warily and she continued. "That is about to change. The upcoming barriers are designed to exploit human flaws, break your will and your spirit. I was sent to warn you about this. You will be forced to confront your deepest and darkest fears, your harshest traumas, your most shameful secrets. Relive your most painful memories. I will help when I can, but as I said, my power there is limited. My plane lies elsewhere."

I was liking our chances less and less with each word out of her mouth. "What if we can't do it?"

Her expression turned stormy. Literally. Her hair and skin darkened to the point where they were almost jet black, tinged with purple, like a lightning storm at sunset. "Failure is not an option."

"But what if –"

" _Not an option_. If Beset wins, it will be pure chaos. She was not meant to hold the throne, and if she ascends to it, the destruction in that plane will leak over into yours. You thought the nightmares she gave you before were bad? Imagine people walking down the street when their skin suddenly falls from their bones, imagine taking a bath and being boiled alive, people's worst nightmares springing to life before their eyes."

I swallowed back the nausea that had risen in my throat. "I think I get the picture."

Purple nodded gravely. "Good."

Desperate to get the conversation away from people being boiled in their bathtubs, I tentatively tried to steer us back on track. "You said you'd teach us how to cross on our terms?"

Her skin shifted back to its original indigo and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes. I'm going to teach you how to tear a new hole in the planes."

I blinked. I blinked again. "That sounds perfectly safe."

"Safe?" She laughed gleefully. "For me, yes. For you, certainly. For anyone else? It would quite possibly implode their lungs and make their brains bleed out their ears."

I winced at the vivid image. "I was being sarcastic."

She did that whole, eyebrows-would-be-raised-if-she-had-them thing again. "Charming. Shall we continue?" I quickly nodded and suddenly Purple was a few feet away from me again. "Watch closely." She began drawing something in midair, and at first I didn't understand what was happening, until I looked at the ground and saw a symbol being burned into the ground. I watched intently. It didn't seem very complicated. A large, six sided-shape with four interlocking triangles inside. I was so focused on the symbol I didn't realize she'd moved again until she was right beside me, grabbing my arm and dragging me forward. I barely managed to protest before my own hand was over whatever she had drawn, and then made a downward slashing motion and I cried out in pain as a cut blossomed open on my hand, and bright red blood slowly trickled out. I tried to pull my hand away, but she forced it into a fist, squeezing until blood dropped onto the symbol she'd drawn. The whole thing flared scarlet, before dying back down to its regular green and brown.

Purple finally let me go and I snatched my hand back, trying not to get blood on my uniform. "What the hell was that?"

Considering how she'd just sliced my skin open, she seemed to be in a rather cheery mood. I chose to believe the two things were not related. At any rate, she answered my question with minimal condescension. "As the Chosen One, your blood runs with that of two different planes. Horus', and yours. Because of this, you have the ability to open gateways between planes. This," she pointed at the ground, "is the hieroglyph for open. And that symbol in the middle? It takes you to Nepthys and Beset's plane. Step inside the symbol once its' activated, or otherwise touch it, and you will be returned to the trials. Although Nepthys asked me to warn you, by using this method to cross you will be moving your physical bodies, as well as your mental selves."

Given how I was busy trying to keep my hand from bleeding out, I wasn't entirely interested in the words coming out of her mouth right now. I checked my watch again. Class was halfway over. "And do I have to burn the symbol into the ground every time I use it?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Any medium will do, provided you add your blood to the mix."

Of course. Because that idea was the most ridiculous one said during this conversation. "How do we get back, once we're there, if we don't wake up?"

"Same way you went there. Now assuming you don't have any more questions?"

I shrugged dispiritedly, still mostly focused on my hand. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me who you are?"

There was silence, and I assumed she'd left, but when I looked up she was still there. "My name is Satet. I owed Nepthys a favor."

I blinked again and she was gone. I scowled, trying to ignore the blood still trickling out of my cut, and began the short trek back to school. I made a quick stop at the nurse's office to get my hand wrapped, before getting to class just in time for the last fifteen minutes.

Everyone was doing on a worksheet when I came in, meaning the sound of the door opening was the equivalent of breaking glass. I ignored when everyone looked up to stare at me, moving over to sit next to Fabian, who had saved me a seat. "Ms. Martin, am I correct in assuming there is a reason for your absence?"

I looked up at the expectant teacher and gave my best attempt at a smile, holding up my wrapped hand. "I had a medical thing, it won't happen again."

She accepted this with a lazy wave of her hand, and turned back to whatever papers were on her desk. "See that it doesn't. You may get the notes from a friend, have the worksheet turned in to me by tomorrow."

Grateful that was the extent of it, I pulled out my notebook and turned to ask Fabian to catch me up. "What happened to your hand?" he whispered.

I grimaced. "Long story short, Sibuna needs to meet, but I'll explain later. Just catch me up, would you?"

I spent the next fifteen minutes getting the quickest calculus lesson ever given, and when class ended I grabbed the worksheet off the teacher's desk and walked into the hallway on high alert for purple giants, or orange midgets, or whatever else might want to talk to me today. Fabian was waiting for me right outside though. "Is it bad?" he asked.

I feigned indifference, heading over to the library for break before third period literature. "Is what bad?" After last night, I was fairly certain he didn't think anything was different about me, making it considerably easier to look him in the eye.

I heard him sigh. "Your hand of course."

"Totally fine."

"Of course. Silly me. Why would you miss most of class for an injury if that injury wasn't 'totally fine'? My bad." Ignoring him, I slung my bag off my shoulder and dropped it on the back of the chair, sat down and took out the calculus worksheet, intending to at least get started.

Fabian sat down next to me. "It's not a crime to feel pain, Nina."

I stopped in the middle of grabbing a pencil, and turned to face him. "I never said it was."

"Really? Because you almost died, and short of practically having a mental breakdown in my arms a few hours after it happened, you've barely complained about it since, even though I can see how much you're suffering every day. You and Eddie went through hell every night for weeks when you first got here, and you hardly said a word about it except to say that you were tired. And now you missed almost an entire class for a cut that you apparently say is 'totally fine'."

I hadn't realized he'd noticed all those things. "I can handle it myself."

"There's a difference between can and should," he pressed. "Every day now, I see you drowning, and you refuse to ask for anyone's help. You've become so good at suffering all by yourself you've practically turned it into an art form."

"That is not true," I snapped.

"Nina you wouldn't even look me in the eye until yesterday."

I immediately glanced away, before forcing myself to look back at him. "That was completely unrelated."

The calculus worksheet remained forgotten on the table as we stared at each other, waiting to see who would blink first. "Let me see your hand, Nina." When I didn't answer, Fabian gently encircled my wrist with his fingers, his skin warm to the touch. He lifted my hand off the table and carefully peeled back the wrapping, just enough to see the angry red line across my palm. "That doesn't look like a paper cut."

A small laugh was surprised out of me. "Like I said, it's a long story. I'll tell you after school."

He traced the cut with a finger, and even though he was technically only touching the gauze, I suddenly found it difficult to breathe. I cleared my throat. "Help me with this worksheet?" I managed to get out.

Fabian wrapped both his hands around mine, closing my hand into a fist, and pressed his lips to my knuckles. My entire body seemed to flare with heat. Then he set my hand back onto the desk and nodded. "Sure. Anything you need."

I blew out a shaky breath. "Thanks."

I tried to draw my hand back but he didn't let go and I looked back up at him. "I mean it, Nina. Anything at all."

I smiled, savoring the warmth of his hands around mine, already dreading when I would have to let go. "I know."

 **AN: as that one upset Guest reviewer can see, I have no intention of disappearing again. I am however in college, meaning updates will be sporadic. I tend to work on this story when I want to procrastinate but I do have classes, so you guys need to be patient with me. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this latest installment. Oh, and just to make me happy? Let's see if we can't get me to 200 reviews before the next chapter goes up. Pretty please?**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.**


	22. Chapter 20: Joy

**Joy**

 **Possible tw: nothing graphic, but there are brief mentions of suicide and teacher/student abuse.**

Patricia threw down her pencil with an air of finality. "I'm bored."

I glanced up at her from my seat across the table. "Did you finish your homework?"

"No."

"Then I don't care. If you don't do it now I'll have to listen to you complaining about how much homework you have to do later." I went back to drafting a thesis for my _Hamlet_ essay.

"I," Patricia picked up the pencil and pointed it at me menacingly, "am going to stab you with this pencil."

"Then I'll die of lead poisoning and make it a point to haunt you for the rest of your life."

"You know, the pencil actually uses graphite and not lead, so the worst that would happen is you get a scratch," said Fabes.

I turned my head to glare at him, ignoring the small tingle in my hands. "What if she stabs me in the eye and it pierces all the way through to my brain?"

He grinned, his nose wrinkling up and I died a little inside. "Ignoring for the moment that delightful mental image, I doubt Patricia has the upper body strength to pierce through your skull with a number two pencil."

"Just try me," Patricia groused.

"Could you guys shut up?" Eddie complained. We looked over towards the couch where he'd been laying ever since we got back from school. He'd been so quiet I'd nearly forgotten he was there.

I rolled my eyes. "Patricia, what's wrong with your boyfriend?"

"Would you like me to write you up a list, or will my slideshow suffice?" she retorted.

I returned to my thesis, only to be interrupted a moment later by the sound of the upstairs door slamming and two people arguing as they came down.

"I don't care if you're tired, you haven't gotten out of bed since you got back from school." There was a pause and then, "Well I can't read Egyptian and you need to be reacquainted with the world of the living."

At that point, Amber marched into the living room, an extremely disgruntled looking Nina in one hand, the Book of the Dead in the other. She shoved the book in Nina's hands and then dragged her over to the table with the rest of us. "Nina is a wonderful person get ready to love her." She turned back to her roommate, practically buzzing in excitement. "Go on, do the thing."

After thoroughly glaring at Amber, Nina dropped the Book onto the table and waved her hand at it. We all jumped in surprise as the Book slammed itself open, flipping through pages so fast I thought they might tear until it suddenly paused, dust gently floating up from the pages.

"What the _hell_?" Patricia demanded, springing up from her chair and walking over to look suspiciously at both the Book and its owner. "Did you do that?"

"No," Nina deadpanned, sounding for all the world as if she wanted nothing more than to get away from all of us. "And the self-flipping isn't really important, it does that all the time. Amber and I were upstairs discussing the box from yesterday when it flew over and smacked me in the head and then opened up to this page."

"It flew over and hit you in the head?" Disbelief and amusement colored my voice in equal measure.

Nina turned empty looking eyes on me, mustering up a glare. "Yeah that's how it gets my attention." She lifted the Book and turned it around, propping it up so that we could all see the page it had fallen open to. "Look familiar?"

"That's the box Eddie opened last night isn't it?" Fabian said.

Amber flapped her hands around. "Bingo. And Nina can translate what it says because apparently she can read it now."

"Since when can you read Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs?" asked Patricia.

"Since about forty minutes ago," Nina snapped, sounding irritated. Patricia raised her eyebrows and Nina sighed. "Sorry. I'm just, really tired." She set the Book back on the table and looked around. "So who here has heard of Pandora's Box?"

We all looked at each other. "Tell me you're joking," I said.

Nina shrugged, like she couldn't possibly care one way or the other. "More or less. We didn't release all the evils of the world or anything, but it's basically the same concept. You know about the seven deadly sins?"

"I thought that was just a Christian thing," said Fabian.

"Yeah and Pandora's Box is part of Greek mythology," I jumped in. "Are you sure you're reading it right?"

Nina scowled at no one in particular. "Maybe Beset is trying to diversify her cursing portfolio. Do I look like I can read minds?" She rubbed at her temple with the heel of her hands as she took a deep breath. "Look, long story short, we're each going to get a turn being infected with one of the sins, and we'll have to overcome it. Once we've all finished, we'll be done with the room. Eddie got hit last night, so he's up first."

"Remind me what the sins are?" Patricia spoke up.

Nina held up a hand and began ticking off fingers. "Pride, gluttony, envy, anger, sloth, something and lust. I can't remember the last one."

"Greed," supplied Fabian.

Nina inclined her head in thanks. "So, what now? How does Eddie get rid of it?" Patricia demanded, seeming none too pleased about the concept her boyfriend being infected.

"Basically he has to commit some sort of selfless act. Bonus points if it's contrary to his infected disposition, but not required."

"Eddie has to commit a selfless act? Well, he's doomed."

"Amber!" Patricia snapped.

"What? I was joking, of course." Amber flipped her hair dismissively. "Where _is_ Eddie anyway?"

Patricia and Fabian and I automatically pointed to the couch, and Amber flounced over to see Eddie lying down, eating potato chips, completely ignoring the rest of us. "He's been like that since we got back from school," I answered the upcoming question. "If I had to guess, I'd say gluttony or sloth."

"Well let's find out," Amber said with a shrug. She gestured us over and we came to watch as she reached down and snatched up the bowl of potato chips. Eddie immediately made weak noises of protest, his hands sort of flapping as he tried to lift them.

"That's not fair, come on, give it back." He tried to sit up, only to fall back down onto the couch and turn his head so that he was glaring at Amber, before his face fell back into neutral, as though he couldn't even be bothered to be angry.

"Definitely sloth," Amber said definitively. "Nina what do you think?"

There was no answer, and we turned to see that both Nina and the Book had vanished. Amber heaved a martyred sigh before returning Eddie's chips. "She went back upstairs didn't she?" I guessed.

Amber nodded reluctantly. "She's so tired all the time lately, and I honestly don't know what to do about it. I haven't seen her voluntarily leave the room except for school, and when we watched those _Harry Potter_ movies over the weekend."

"Fabian, do you know what's up with her?" Patricia asked.

Fabian looked distinctly uncomfortable. "We haven't explicitly discussed it."

"Why not?" she pressed.

Fabian didn't look too keen to answer, and against my will, I felt hope flair up in my chest. "She's not really talking to me right now." The flair erupted into a showering of sparks throughout my body that I immediately smothered down, struggling to keep my facial expression as disinterested as possible.

"Go and talk to her _now_ ," demanded Amber. "Because she just lies in bed all day, staring at the ceiling not moving, and I'm running out of options, and if anyone can snap her out of this you can."

"I honestly don't think she wants to talk to me right now," Fabian protested, and I bit down on my lip, not trusting myself to talk. _Don't go, don't go, don't go._

"Well she needs to talk to somebody, and out of all of us I think we can agree you're best equipped. Go."

 _Don't go don't go don't –_

Fabian nodded his consent. "Fill in Alfie about the Pandora's Box stuff, will you?" I felt the sparks of hope in my chest die down as he headed out and his footsteps sounded up the staircase, leaving me feeling cold and empty inside. Patricia and I headed back to the table as Amber went to go and fill in Alfie. I stared fixedly at my computer screen without seeing anything, hands resting on my keyboard, unable to type. Eventually I blew out a breath and slammed it shut. "I'm going to go work on this upstairs."

Patricia made a noncommittal noise, still looking very much like she would like to murder her math problems. I slid my notebook and pencil case on top of my computer, gathered them into my arms and headed upstairs, a faint buzzing in my ears. It's not like I was going to actually eavesdrop, I was just going to accidentally happen to walk past Nina's room, and if I _happened_ to catch a gist of their conversation, well, that simply couldn't be helped, could it? I dropped my stuff on my bed, noting that Mara wasn't there so she was probably hanging out with Jerome, and headed down the hall.

I could see that her door was open, but I couldn't hear any talking. I glanced back over my shoulder to see if Victor was going to pop up behind me, and sidled up to the door, doing my best to look inconspicuous, before casually glancing into the room.

My heart stopped. They definitely weren't talking alright. They were lying together on Nina's bed, Fabian on top of her, kissing like they couldn't get enough of each other. It was like a slow-motion car crash, where you wanted to look away but you couldn't. I watched in horror as Fabian moved his lips away from her mouth and fastened them onto her neck, saw how her body arched underneath him, how she clawed at his back and sighed in pleasure. My eyes started burning as his hand moved up under her shirt.

I jerked away, forcing myself to breathe, fighting back the growing nausea in the pit that was now my stomach. The images felt burned into my brain. I closed my eyes against them as a breathy moan sounded from the room, and I fled down the hall, face burning. I don't know why I'd let myself hope, why I ever let myself hope, why I'd let myself contemplate the possibility that he would choose me over her, want me more than her. Duval had as much as told me no one else would ever choose me, and he was right, no one ever would. Certainly not Fabian, not while _she_ was still around. Almost against my will I felt a surge of hatred for Nina Martin. He had been mine first.

I fell into bed, consumed with self-pity and self-loathing in equal amounts. The memory of his kisses were a poison inside of me that I needed to remove, the ghosts of his hands on me made me want to scrape off my skin and scrub it clean of him. I needed to talk to someone about this, anyone, I needed to tear off the ever-present feeling of shame that wrapped around me like a collar. Unwilling to go downstairs, I grabbed my phone and dialed a number I knew by heart.

Patricia answered on the fourth ring. "Weren't you just downstairs like two minutes ago?"

Had it only been two minutes? "Can you come up here?" My voice sounded much the same as I felt: completely wrung out, drained of anything vital.

"Is something wrong?" Concern filled her question and it sent a rush of comfort through me. Not trusting myself to answer, I hung up the phone, running my finger over the keypad, all the texts he'd sent me running on replay through my head.

I didn't have to wait long before the door swung open and clicked shut. "Joy? What's wrong?" My back was to Patricia so I couldn't see her face, but I could still hear the worry.

"Do you remember how you said you'd be there if I ever wanted to talk about what was wrong with me?"

She didn't hesitate. "Of course."

I didn't even know how to begin this discussion. "There's a file in the bottom drawer of my nightstand."

I heard footsteps and the sound of something sliding open, the rustle of paper. "What's in it?"

I continued to stare fixatedly at the wall, unable to look her in the eyes. "It's the school file on Monsieur Duval. I stole it from Sweetie's office."

"Why?" Patricia asked. "You stole this weeks before he shot the place up."

"That's not why I took it."

I didn't continue, needing her to push me. I had to tell someone, but if it wasn't dragged out of me I didn't know how else to admit it. "Well why then?" I said a prayer of thanks to whatever gods there were for Patricia Williamson, and then another prayer that she wasn't about to hate me. "Joy?"

"Because he kissed me."

I told the story in fits and starts, how he'd failed me on that first French test so that I would have to meet with him, how it had started off small, just hands on my lower back and shoulders, only in private, only ever in private. When it had first started I had stolen the file, desperate to know if he had a wife, or a police record, or anything I could use to get more information on him. How when he had started demanding that I undo a few buttons on my shirt to pass quizzes, how my grade in class became dependent on how much of my skin I was willing to let him touch. How he would send me texts that made me want to vomit, how the first time he kissed me I actually _did_ vomit in the bathroom a few minutes later, and then he kissed me again and how he had been ready to take it farther before he went and shot Nina and got arrested and killed himself. How I had felt weak in the knees with relief when we got the news he had killed himself. Each word out of my mouth felt dangerous as a scorpion, shocking relief when it was finally out of me, blinding terror that it would frighten Patricia away.

When I finished talking, I flipped my phone open to the texts and held it out to her, letting her see the proof with her own eyes in case my word wasn't enough. "I don't know for sure how many others there were, but he's been teaching for five years and there have been at least two other girls during that time, both at different schools. I thought about reaching out, but I couldn't. The first one, Stacy McNamara, was seventeen. She had really religious parents, and when she told them what he was doing they thought it was consensual, and sent her to a convent in Berlin. And the other one, McKenzie DeMarco was fifteen. She killed herself when she got pregnant, and he changed his name after that."

I hadn't looked at her the entire time I was talking, but now I forced myself into an upright position, hugging my arms around my knees and daring to look at her. I was stunned to see that there were tears on her cheeks. "He's lucky he's dead," she said in a low voice that seemed to shake. "Because if he wasn't I'd kill him."

My eyes widened in shock. I had expected… well I don't know what I had expected. Questions and denials probably, demands for proof. Not for her to automatically be on my side, ready to go to the mat for me. Patricia saw my expression and sat down next to me on the bed, a white-knuckled grip on my phone. "What do you need from me?"

I struggled to process this question, my brain straining to wrap around it. "I… what?"

"Do you want to do anything about this? Go to the police or something?"

I shook my head. "No. No I don't want anyone else knowing about this. And besides, he's dead. You can't press charges against a corpse. I just… I don't know. I had to talk about this." I had been expecting myself to start crying, for my hands to shake and my voice to crack. Not to just feel tired and raw and stripped naked. I wanted to curl into a ball and hide from the world. "You can't tell anyone about this. I mean it. Not the police, not Eddie, not Sweetie, not Mara, no one."

Not looking exactly thrilled, Patricia nodded and I wanted to collapse in on myself with relief. "You should talk to someone though."

I let myself smile. "I'm talking to you aren't I?"

Patricia rolled her eyes. "A _trained_ someone. A therapist, or the school guidance counselor."

"Yes, because the trauma counselors they brought in last week to help us deal with the shooting were just all kinds of helpful."

Patricia sighed, but allowed the matter to drop. I wanted to end the conversation there, I wanted to talk about other things, like complain about homework, or look through a magazine and ogle Robert Pattinson, instead I opened my mouth and asked the exact question I didn't want to know the answer to. "Patricia is it me?"

She didn't seem to understand what I was asking. "Is what you?"

I shrugged despondently. "Is it me? Out of all the students in the school, he picked _me_. He said no one else would ever want me —" Patricia started shaking her head but I persisted "— and I just need to know, _is it me?_ Is there something so inherently wrong with me that only people like him will ever want me? Is that why Fabian —"

"Joy NO." Patricia grabbed me by the shoulders and forced me to look at her. My throat felt scraped open and it was suddenly hard to breathe. "Joy, listen to me. There is nothing. Wrong with you. Nothing. People like him are sick, and twisted, and it has everything to do with them and nothing to do with you because there's nothing wrong with you. I mean, yes, you sleep in too late in the mornings and you have an unhealthy obsession with romantic comedies and you were Team Edward over Team Jacob but other than _that_."

At some point I'd started laughing, and then I was laughing so hard I was crying and she was hugging me through the tears and the laughter and I finally felt that dark pool of shame in my stomach, the one that seethed and spat like a nest of venomous snakes, I felt it begin to unravel.

* * *

Throughout the next few weeks of November, things seemed to reach a balance in Anubis house. Nina's purple friend, Satet, put up some sort of barrier so that only Nina's blood magic, or whatever it was, controlled when we entered the other plane. After a few days of being almost completely stationary, including taking a sabbatical from school, Eddie broke free of sloth. Jerome and Alfie were horsing around and accidentally pushed Patricia down the stairs, and when Eddie found out he'd immediately run over to see if she was alright. He proceeded to complain that we hadn't snapped him out of it sooner and now his leg muscles were completely atrophied. Fabes and him bickered about it constantly, but I could tell he was just relieved Eddie was back on his feet again. We got Alfie through greed, when he did something for Jerome – he wouldn't tell us what – and now, we were standing around the room for the third time, all of us giving the box on the table in the center a wide berth.

It was a bit of a shame really, because the box itself was quite beautiful. Carved out of black obsidian with swirls engrained over the sides, it looked like something that should house someone's treasured keepsakes, not the seven deadly sins.

"Remind me again what happened to the puzzles?" Alfie complained.

"Those were physical challenges," Fabian spoke up. "This one and the others are more mentally focused."

"Fabian," Alfie said pleasantly, "What's the definition of a rhetorical question?"

Fabes opened his mouth to answer, and then shut it with a click, glaring at Alfie.

"Guys can we just get this over with?" asked an exhausted sounding Nina. I turned to look at her. I had no idea what was going on with her lately. She would spend hours out on campus, doing I-don't-know-what, coming back around dinner looking like a wreck. When she wasn't ghosting around, she almost never left her room anymore, but Fabian had been going up to 'talk' to her more and more. I tried not to think about what that meant. And even though she had purple bruises cut under her eyes and it looked like she hadn't brushed her hair in a week, I still felt a flare of hatred, and had to look away.

Eddie shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I went first, I got sloth. Alfie went and got greed. We're off the hook. You guys should draw straws or something."

Patricia folded her arms. "Why don't we just 'not it'?"

There was a crackle of silence and then everyone was suddenly yelling "Not it!" at the same time, everyone except for –

"I don't get it," said Amber, looking confused. "Does this mean I get to pick who opens it?"

We all glanced at each other, silently debating who would explain the concept, before expectantly turning to Alfie who scowled. "Sure, sure. Make the boyfriend be the bearer of bad news."

"What bad news?" Amber asked.

Alfie gave a placating smile. "Ambs. Babe. Honey bunches."

With each endearment, Amber's eyebrows rose higher up on her forehead. "Yes?"

"It's your turn to open the box."

"WHAT _?_ " she squawked. " _Why?_ "

"Well, because the person who's it has to open the box, and everyone else called 'not it'. You didn't say 'not it', so you're it."

Amber looked mutinous. "Only if I get to choose the person after me." We all gave various assents and Amber placed her hands on her hips as she marched over to the box. "I want it to be clear I am doing this under protest."

She reached the table and we all took a step back as Amber placed her hands on the box and flipped open the lid. It was the same every time. Balls of light exploded outwards, flaring up in a rainbow of colors, before dying down and levitating a foot above the box, slowly moving in a circle, not a trace of color on them. At first there had been seven, but now there were only five and I found it impossible to ignore the irony of how there were seven of us, and seven sins. I saw Amber tilt her head in concentration, examining the glowing spheres, and felt Patricia lean down next to me. "Want to take bets on what you think she's going to get?"

I shrugged, running through the list of remaining vices. "Envy. You?"

"Pride. Eddie says lust."

My quiet laugh was abruptly cut off and we all held our breaths as Amber raised a delicate hand and tapped the orb closest to her. With Eddie, it had been neon blue, and with Alfie a buttery yellow. With Amber, the light from her sphere exploded down her arm and suffused her in bright orange, shuddering over her entire body until the glow faded away, and the remaining four orbs returned the box, which swung its lid shut with an innocent click.

We knew from past experience that the sin would take about six hours to start working in earnest. So Nina pulled out a notepad, scrawled the symbol, pulled out a safety pin and pricked her finger before squeezing a few droplets of blood on the page, which made most of us turn away. When it was my turn, I put my fingers on the symbol, making a point to not look at Nina, and closed my eyes.

There was the brief sensation of floating, and then wind whipping everywhere around me, tearing at my hair, a flash of heat and then my eyes opened up and I was lying on my back in Fabian's room, Patricia, Eddie and Amber already there. Patricia offered me a hand and I took it, being pulled up and out of the way just in time for Alfie to take my spot. Fabian and Nina showed up a few seconds later, and we quickly dispersed ourselves.

Later, while I was brushing out my hair and Mara had just left to go take a shower, Patricia looked up at me over her computer screen. "How you doing?"

I glanced over. "What?"

Seeming slightly reluctant to pursue this line of conversation, Patricia shrugged before continuing. "Ok don't take this the wrong way."

"Too late," I winked.

"I've been thinking about that other girl, McKenzie DeMarco. The one who killed herself and I just wanted to make sure you're not going… you know."

"You want to make sure I'm not going to slit my wrists in the shower?"

"I wasn't going to put it quite so graphically, but yes."

I smiled. "You're sweet to worry, but you shouldn't. I would never do that."

"But if you do ever consider it you'll come to me first?"

My smile grew bigger. "Patricia. I promise, I am not going to kill myself because of what he did to me."

Seeming more or less reassured, she went back to her computer and I refocused on my hair. I meant what I said, I had no intention of killing myself. Besides, I was doing better lately. The thought of French class didn't make me want to vomit, and later, when Victor dropped his pin and we all went to bed, I didn't even hate myself.

 **AN: college still sucks. Happy Thanksgiving! Almost. Coincidentally, it's almost Thanksgiving in the story too. Which will be acknowledged. More or less. You'll see. And per request, future chapters will have more Peddie. I've been depriving you I know. I'm very sorry.**

 **PS: Omg you guys, I have officially made it to 200 reviews. I could cry.**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.**


	23. Chapter 21: Patricia

**Patricia**

"And you're _sure_ you didn't hear Eddie wake up last night?" pressed Jerome, as we continued to stare at the table in wonder.

"Well I'm not positive, but what was I supposed to do? Tie a bell around his neck?" Fabian defended himself. "He's my roommate not my parolee."

Joy and Mara and I had come down to breakfast this morning expecting breakfast to be proceeding as usual, only to find Trudy dressed in a gigantic apron with some weird-ass hat with a buckle on it, feigning deafness when we asked what was going on with the rest of the dining area. The table was covered in what looked like paper turkeys, and giant orange leaves were scattered around the floor, and multiple American flags were being used as table cloths, as well as being tied around two of the chairs. Considering the fact that Nina had never pulled a stunt like this, we'd immediately assumed it was Eddie.

"Should we sit?" asked Mara, cautiously drawing back one of the chairs.

The rest of us uncertainly followed suit, waiting for Amber, Nina, and Eddie himself to show up and hopefully explain. The girls beat him to it. Amber physically choked in surprise, while when Nina – bags under her eyes prominent as ever – entered, she took a few seconds to register before blinking twice, sighing in defeat, and heading over to one of the Americanized chairs.

"Nina, you wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?" asked Jerome.

Nina grimaced, propping an elbow on the table and resting her head in her hand. "I want it on record that I begged him not to do it." The rest of us had more questions, but before we could ask them there was the sound of a door slamming shut and music started blasting.

" _Oh, say can you see_

 _By the dawn's early light._

 _What so proudly we hailed_

 _At the twilight's last gleaming._ "

The song continued, growing louder as Eddie entered, wearing a hat like Trudy's and yet another American flag in the form of a cape, holding an iPod hooked up to a speaker, his right hand over his heart. I glanced at Nina, hoping for clarification, but she'd buried her face in her hands.

" _O'er the land of the free!  
And the home of the brave!_"

The song finally ended and was replaced by tinny sounding applause before Eddie clicked it off, and in one smooth motion, removed his hat and swept into a deep bow, before springing back up and beaming.

"What the _hell_?" I demanded.

His grin widened. "Happy Thanksgiving everybody!"

As one the table looked desperately to Nina, who at last, reluctantly lowered her hands. "I repeat," she said, "I _begged him_ , not to do it."

"Do what?" asked Amber.

Nina sighed. "It's the fourth Thursday of November, which is when Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. I made the mistake of reminding Eddie that the UK doesn't celebrate this particular holiday, one thing lead to another, and I guess he didn't listen when I asked him not to do it."

Eddie adopted a highly offended expression. "Thanksgiving is a national holiday! It's the singular day of the year Americans have a decent, federally mandated excuse to gorge themselves and yell at our family members over politics and religion! And the fact that you, Nina Martin, have allowed the past two years to go by without so much as eating a drumstick in its honor is a tragedy for which I have no words."

"You seem to have plenty of words to me," I said, smiling sweetly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Joy smirk at me.

My boyfriend pretended not to hear me. "Thanksgiving is celebrated only by America, Liberia, Canada, Saint Lucia, some city in the Netherlands, and a random Australian island. Our holiday is endangered and I will not allow a single American to be docile as it vanishes forever!"

No one spoke at first, seemingly afraid of provoking him. "We're not going to find more of these," Amber held up a cut out of a paper hand turkey, one of a few dozen, "in our lockers or anything, are we?"

Eddie looked affronted. "Of course not. I would never stoop so low. However, I have convinced Trudy," he gestured to the kitchen and our housemother waved merrily, "to help me with a Thanksgiving styled dinner throughout the day, and gained permission from our dear headmaster to miss today's classes in preparation. As such, I will see you in eight hours!"

With a swirl of his star-spangled cape, he flounced – _flounced_ – out of the dining room.

"Nina," Alfie tried tentatively, but our original American held up her hands to ward off potential questioning.

"I am having no part of this," she declared, before downing a glass of water and standing up. "I'll see you guys later. I have to go before he tries to rope me into dressing like a pilgrim. Again." Nina picked her bag up off the floor and headed out, quickly followed by Fabian who paused only to grab a muffin.

The rest of us ate quickly, eager to leave before Eddie returned with inflatable turkeys, period costumes, or god knows whatever else it was he had in mind for the day.

True to his word, Eddie was missing from all of our classes. Aside from this meaning that if Joy hadn't been there I would've died of boredom at least nine times, I felt a little off balance the entire day. I kept turning to look at him only to remember that he wasn't there, or look up from my locker expectantly only for him to be missing. It was like one of my feet had been replaced with a pirate's peg leg without my consent. Other than missing him and worrying about what else Eddie had in store for us, the day was mostly uneventful, except for French class, when our fourth sub since Halloween opened her drawer, only to have a live frog jump out. She shrieked in surprise, and most of the class cast hidden glances at Jerome and Alfie as we laughed. I had a feeling we'd be onto our fifth teacher very shortly.

After coming back to the house though, it seemed our worrying had been for naut. Victor was still off campus, so Eddie hadn't been busted, and he spent most of the day busy in the kitchen with Trudy. That by itself wouldn't have been so bad, but he insisted on playing the most ridiculous songs on loop while he worked, up to and including the American national anthem, a musical American pledge of allegiance, the same three country songs over and over, and what sounded like demonically possessed children singing songs about being grateful. After about an hour I gave up on getting any work done downstairs, and headed up to my room where Joy and Mara had already retreated. I had just gotten settled on my bed in a position where I could sit up straight without getting a crick in my neck, when arguing voices started drifting through the walls from Amber and Nina's room into ours.

Mara had headphones, so she was fine, and Joy was gifted with the ability to tune out of any conversation. However, my headphones were broken and I was gifted with a short temper, and so after less than two minutes I slammed my textbook shut in frustration and marched down the hallway.

"Amber you don't wear suits, and you've got like three dozen sets of shoes to pick from!"

"But none of my shoes match the suits I don't have, so I need a suit and I'll need shoes to go with! And I need the suits!"

"You don't _wear_ suits!"

"I do now!"

"Could you two shut up?" I demanded, throwing open the door. Nina and Amber both snapped around to look at me, each slightly red in the face. "Whatever you're arguing about I can hear it through the wall, so just get it together would you?"

"Patricia," piped up Amber. "Do you think there's anything wrong with girls wearing dress suits?"

"Oh. My. _God_." Nina threw up her hands. "I never said there was anything wrong with it, just that you as a person don't wear them!"

"Maybe I'm starting!"

"At that price range?"

"ENOUGH!" Both of them turned to look at me. "What the hell is going on?" The two roommates started talking over one another in their haste to explain and I clapped my hands together. "One at a time." I pointed. "Amber, you first."

The blonde tossed Nina a maddeningly superior look that caused me to regret my decision, before flipping her hair and launching into an explanation. She, Amber, had been doing some innocent online shopping for the supper next Saturday when she was meant to meet Alfie's parents as his official girlfriend for the first time. She had called over Nina to get an opinion, and her roommate had promptly emptied the shopping cart and closed the site, in the excuse of saving Amber's credit score. They were now fighting over Nina's reasoning.

Head spinning, I pointed to Nina. "Ok, your turn."

Nina glared at her roommate. "Amber asked me to look at some clothes she was buying. When I saw how much she was planning to spend on said clothes, I made a unilateral decision and decided to let her thank me later."

I sighed. "Really? Guys come on." Because it was itching at me, I had to ask. "Just out of curiosity, how much were you planning on spending?"

Nina answered for her, and the number she announced made me laugh. "Yeah ok. Seriously though, how much?"

Nina looked me dead in the eyes as Amber began to look defensive and I grew uneasy. "You can't be serious."

"I wish I wasn't."

I blinked. "But that's –"

"Uh huh."

"On _clothes_?"

"Oh yeah."

"Amber!"

"What?" she folded her arms and scowled. "I'm not entitled to a spending spree every now and then?"

"Not when you're spending 86,000 pounds!"

Amber sprung to her feet, cheeks aflame. "Why not?"

"Amber, it's one dinner!" said Nina in exasperation. I got the feeling this wasn't the first time that particular argument had been used. "And besides, have you seen your closet? You have clothes!"

Amber pouted. "Can I at least buy some new heels?"

Nina and I folded our arms and looked at each other, before turning back to Amber. "One pair," she announced. "And I'm going to watch while you buy them."

Amber clapped her hands excitedly as Nina retrieved Amber's laptop from where she'd apparently hidden it under her pillow and returned it. I stayed just long enough to see them sit together on Amber's bed, Nina watching carefully, before returning to my room, waiting for the text that was sure to come. Sure enough, it pinged through a few minutes later.

 _If we hadn't just done Alfie I'd say it was greed._

I was already texting back. _R we 100% sur tht was a sin? Could jst b panicking abt the dnnr._

 _No way. I know her. She shops when she's stressed, she preens when she panics. This is something else._

 _Maybe we wer wrong and Alfie didnt hav greed?_

 _Seriously? He spent 500 on socks alone and voluntarily went shopping. The hell else did he have?_

 _Pnt taken. So whts up w Amber?_

 _Well I doubt it's pride, there's zero chance it's lust/anger. Maybe envy?_

 _Idk. Can we wrk ths out l8r? I hve hmwk 2 fnsh._

 _Yeah whatever. She seems to be fine for now anyway._

I waited to see if any other texts would come through, but none did. I reopened my history book and resumed my notetaking, attempting to bully my brain into focusing. Unfortunately, it was determined to keep returning to the image of Eddie in that godawful cape and ugly-ass hat, insisting it was adorable, no matter how hard I worked to convince myself it was stupid. As a result of my internal debate, I ended up reading the same page over and over again without taking anything in for a solid two hours.

The 'thanksgiving' supper started out more on the awkward side of the spectrum, but once Nina convinced Eddie that no, we did not have to say the pledge of allegiance at risk of our eternal souls withering away into dust if we refused, we moved onto a kickass meal that had taken him and Trudy the better part of the day to prepare. A turkey, mashed potatoes, biscuits, stuffing, and some sweet potato casserole that Alfie and Jerome promptly claimed a monopoly on and viciously defended from the rest of us. After most of us had gorged ourselves to the point of groaning, an apple pie was brought out that turned Nina's eyes into saucers. Once we were finally finished, there were enough leftovers that Trudy probably wouldn't have to cook supper until next week, and by the time Victor dropped his pin we had all literally collapsed into bed.

* * *

"Come on Joy, up and at 'em!"

Joy made some sort of noise that was either a 'no' or a 'screw you', but with her face buried in the pillow it was hard to be certain. Whatever she said, she promptly pulled the blankets up so that all I could see was her hairline. I rolled my eyes and muttered an apology before grabbing the blanket and yanking.

Joy nearly screeched in protest, her body snapping upright and hands reaching blindly for the stolen warmth. Her eyes reluctantly squinted open and I smirked. "First off, you're lucky it's the weekend, because if you slept in this late any other day besides Saturday, it'd be Victor in here instead of me. Second, when the hell did you go to bed last night? It's nearly noon."

"Couldn't sleep," she grumbled. At least, I'm pretty certain that's what she said. It might've been, 'wooden sheep', but I was betting on the former. I eventually managed to coax Joy into a pair of jeans and a tee shirt, waited while she brushed her teeth, and threw water on her face so that she could walk down the stairs without falling. Thanks to Alfie and Jerome, I had recent experience with the unpleasantly painful bruises such a fall could gift. "How are we doing with Amber?" Joy asked as she pulled back her hair into a ponytail.

I shrugged. "Nina stole her laptop while she and Alfie were making out and changed all her passwords for shopping sites. But other than watch her and shove opportunities for selfless deeds in her path, there's not much we can do. Although Nina says she apparently went a little crazy yesterday and cleaned their entire bedroom. Mop, vacuum, color-coordinating their closets, the whole enchilada."

"How is that relevant exactly?"

"I was hoping you could think of something," I admitted. She laughed, and I felt a surge of pride. Ever since Joy had told me the truth about what had been happening to her, every piece of happiness I was able to wring out felt like a great personal accomplishment.

We got to the kitchen and began making Joy a sandwich from leftover turkey, and things were going fine until I caught her glaring at something. I turned to see that that something was Nina, doing homework at the kitchen table. Fabian was sitting next to her reading a book, and as I watched he gently ran his fingers down her back a few times before turning a page.

"Joy?" I briefly hesitated. "You doing ok?"

Joy rolled the mayonnaise jar back and forth between her palms a few times but didn't answer. I was about to ask again when she said abruptly, "You know she snuck out last night."

I blinked in confusion. "Who did what?"

She looked over at me. "Nina. She snuck out last night."

My mouth opened and closed a few times as I looked back and forth between the two girls. "And you know this how?" I demanded when I eventually remembered my voice.

Joy shrugged and began aggressively spreading mayonnaise onto her bread. "I told you I couldn't sleep last night. Around midnight I went to the bathroom to go and grab some water and someone walked past. I went to go look and it was Nina. I followed her a bit and saw her go downstairs and leave the house." She seemed to sense the question I was about to ask and beat me to it. "And, no, I don't know where she went."

Nina Martin? Sneaking out after curfew? Well I'll be damned. I blew out a breath and made a decision. "Maybe she was sleepwalking. At any rate, we can worry about it later."

Joy shrugged and held out a hand for the mustard which I threw over, my thoughts swirling despite what I'd told Joy. Why the hell was Nina sneaking out in the middle of the night? Was this a regular thing, or her first time? Where was she going? I realized Joy was looking at me expectantly and forced myself to focus. "Sorry, what?"

"Knife."

I rolled my eyes and went to grab a new, clean knife. "Right, you have that obsession."

"It is _not_ an obsession!"

"If it were any stronger I'd call it a fetish."

Joy scowled. "Look, just because you're perfectly ok with using one knife for multiple condiments –"

"Along with roughly 96% of the general human population."

"– doesn't mean we're all animals!"

I laughed, and so did she, and we fell into an easy rhythm. Later, while Joy was sitting next to the sink eating her breakfast/lunch, and I was throwing cashews at her that she caught with her mouth, I heard laughter that gave me goosebumps and turned to see that Eddie had come to the living room at some point and was talking with Nina while Fabian continued reading. Against my will I felt a surge of jealousy, which I wrestled with, overcame, and mostly managed to subdue. _I_ wanted to be the only girl who made him laugh. Dragging my attention back to Joy I resumed my cashew tossing, this time with considerably more force than necessary. She seemed to notice but didn't comment, at least not until one hit her on the nose. "Ow!" Joy complained, rubbing the spot the nut had hit and glaring at me reproachfully. "Just talk to him already," she hissed.

I shrugged defensively. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Joy made a face, shoved the rest of the sandwich in her mouth and hopped down. "See now is normally where I say they're just talking and you shouldn't be jealous, but I know you better so I'm going to settle with leaving and banning you from my presence until you discuss this with him."

I folded my arms and stuck my chin out. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Patricia." Joy folded her own arms, although on someone of her stature it was considerably less intimidating. "You've got to get over this. He's crazy for you."

"Then _why_ , exactly, does he keep running over to spend time with Nina?" I hissed, dropping my pretenses.

Joy made a noise of exasperation. "Patricia, you guys had a fight, but Eddie doesn't think he did anything wrong. He's now trying to prove he didn't do anything wrong, by doing the exact same thing. He does this half the time you guys argue!"

I didn't answer, my mind flashing back to yesterday. I'd just gotten off the phone with my parents, putting me in an already crappy mood, only to see Eddie and Nina doing the dishes and screwing around. That would've been fine, until I saw the screwing around escalate to him physically lifting her off the ground and rubbing bubbles over her. They'd both stopped when they saw me. Even then, we might have been ok, were it not for the very _revealing_ conversation I'd had with Nina afterwards that had made me feel as though my heart had been torn out of my chest. Eddie and I had had one of our more scathing discussions over it, and hadn't spoken to each other since.

Joy came over to stand next to me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Patricia, look. I love you, but you need to talk to him. Work this out."

She left me standing alone in the kitchen, facing the sink where Eddie and Nina had been. I swallowed past a hot lump in my throat and turned to see the two of them. Eddie had managed to coax a grin out of Nina, and I felt like my heart was sinking to my toes. I decided right then and there I hated that feeling. I glanced over to Fabian, who was sitting there calmly, occasionally participating in the discussion. _How_ did he not feel like he was drowning as he watched them? Like all he wanted was to swim to the surface but all he did was get sucked further and further under? I felt a spark of anger at how I seemed to be the only one suffering, and I desperately latched onto it. I nurtured the spark, I fed it and fanned it until it had grown out of control and I was pissed off far beyond any reasonable margins. I clenched and unclenched my hands before stalking over to the table.

I wrapped my hand around Eddie's bicep and pulled him up out of the chair, before turning to scowl at Fabian. "IF you don't mind, I'm going to need to borrow your room while I murder my boyfriend." I didn't bother to see if he did mind, because I was already forcing Eddie out into the hall, before shoving him into his room and slamming the door, locking it behind us.

"Problem, Yacker?" Eddie asked sarcastically, making a point of rubbing his arm where I had grabbed it.

"I don't know," I snapped. "You tell me."

He raised his eyebrows. "If you're still mad about that thing with Nina from yesterday, then yes, you have a problem. Other than that, I can't help you."

I wanted to smack him. I wanted to kiss him. "Why can't you just be honest with me? If you want to break up with me, why can't you just come right out and say it?"

Whatever he'd been expecting this conversation to be about, that clearly wasn't it. His eyes expanded and his hands dropped uselessly to his sides. "I – what?"

My eyes were stinging but I focused on that fire of anger instead. Anger was better, anger was safer. "You heard me."

"What – I don't – Patricia, _what the hell_?" His eyes flashed with anger.

"What I don't understand," I kept going, in no mood to make this easy for him, "is why you couldn't just tell me. 'I'm not that into you Patricia', 'I want to break up with you Patricia', 'I think we should see other people'."

"I don't know what you've been drinking, but I have no intention of breaking up with you," Eddie snapped, hands contracting into fists.

"Well maybe you should, since clearly you've got eyes for someone else." On some level, I was aware of how vastly unreasonable I was being, but I was feeling pretty unreasonable at the moment.

I'd apparently thrown him another curveball because Eddie appeared completely floored by this accusation. "You don't mean – you think I've got feelings for _Nina_?"

I folded my arms. "Well don't you?"

"NO!" He yelled, before catching himself, and continuing in a quieter voice. "No. Of course not. And besides, what happened to you working on trusting me?"

I flinched, but didn't back down. I didn't know how to explain the insecurity I got around their relationship, ever since it had come to light that he was her Osirian, her gods-designated protector. Those feelings had expanded upon finding out they'd lived together over the summer, and I thought I'd dealt with them after finding out the secret they had been keeping was completely unromantic in nature, but here they were. And if he was going to dump me to pine after her, I'd rather he just get it over with. I told him this. "Look, I don't know what you think is going to happen between you two, but I can tell you she's only into Fabian, so if you want to break up with me so you can torture yourself over wanting someone who's unavailable, just rip the Band-Aid off why don't you?"

Eddie looked faintly sick. "Where is all of this coming from?"

I could feel the words that had been building up in the back of my throat, and before I could stop them, it was like a dam had burst and they poured out. "Why did you tell Nina about what you did with those girls and yet you can't tell me?"

The room seemed to freeze. Eddie stared at me, before his tongue darted out to moisten his lips, sending my mind places that were drastically unrelated to the current conversation. "Did she…" he licked them again and I internally kicked myself. "She didn't tell you, did she?"

I felt the blood in my veins turn to ice. I'd been hoping I'd misunderstood it. "No. As soon as she realized I had _no idea_ what she was talking about she clammed up and left." I choked out a laugh so bitter I didn't recognize it as my own. "I thought you weren't ready to talk about it."

"Patricia –"

"That was what you told me. You said that you trusted me, that it had nothing to do with me, it was just that you weren't ready to tell anyone!" My voice was rising to a shout and with more effort than I'd considered myself capable of, I forced it back down. "Why didn't you just tell me that you didn't want me to know? How do you think I felt, finding out that Nina knew before me?"

"She found out by _accident_!" Eddie snarled, a note of desperation now entering his voice. "Look it's complicated, but she found out over the summer, and I only told her to stop her from jumping to conclusions."

A second ago I'd felt frozen, and now I felt boiling hot all over. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to touch him. "Why can't you just tell me what happened?"

"Because I don't want you to hate me!" Eddie snapped eyes brighter than normal. "Is that what you want to hear? Because I did shitty things and I don't want you to look at me and see me for the piece of shit that I really am!"

"Oh, come on," I snarled. "So you were feeling slutty and slept with a bunch of girls. Tell me, what could possibly be so awful that –"

"They paid me."

My voice died in my throat. Eddie saw my expression shift and kept talking, each word angrier than the last. "I was pissed at my parents and so I had sex with a few girls. Word got around and so a couple other girls slept with me to lose their virginity. I decided it was a pretty good idea so I put word out that if they were willing to give me fifty bucks I'd be their first."

I had no idea, no goddamn idea what to say to this. My brain was still struggling to comprehend the 'got paid for sex' bit. I could understand why he thought I might hate him, but I didn't. I had to tell him that I didn't. He wasn't done though. "Eventually my parents found out and I got sent here as punishment. They agreed a change of scenery would be good for me."

While he'd been talking, his eyes had slowly shifted from fury to defeat, and looking at him standing a few paces away from me I could see him waiting, waiting for me to tell him I hated him, to scream at him, tell everyone, say I never wanted to see him again. "You're an idiot." Eddie didn't even bother to nod to acknowledge this. "You, Eddie Miller, are quite honestly the stupidest person to walk the earth, if you think I'd hate you for this."

Now he blinked in surprise, like he thought he might've misunderstood, but I kept going. "I honestly can't understand why you thought, out of all my possible reactions, I'd hate you for this of all things." I could actually imagine quite a few reasons, but decided to keep quiet about that. "So you charged them money. Big deal. It's not like you held a gun to their head while you did it. I have half a mind to be insulted that you think so little of me that you were convinced I would hate you for this."

Eddie shook his head. "I don't –"

"You don't understand?" I interrupted, crossing the distance between us in a few quick strides, until I was close enough that I could've counted his eyelashes. "Well then allow me to enlighten you." Determined to cut him off before he could keep talking I lifted my hands to grab him by the collar and pulled his lips to mine.

At first, he just stood there, not moving, as though he didn't want to kiss me. But then I wrapped one hand around his neck and he surrendered to my touch, arms going around my waist, lightly moaning into my mouth. His grip tightened until he was almost lifting me into him. I kissed him harder, almost bruising his lips with mine. I felt my heartbeat spread from my chest to overtake my entire body as I pulled away, completely and utterly terrified of the next words about to come out of my mouth. "I couldn't…" I broke off, almost unable to complete the sentence. Eddie leaned down to kiss me away but I pulled back, swallowing past a suddenly dry throat. "I could never hate somebody I love as much as you." He stared at me, frozen, either unwilling or unable to hear the words I'd just said. I said them again. "I love you." They were a whisper this time as my insides began shriveling. He wasn't going to say it back. He was going to say that it was too soon or too much or that he just didn't –

His hands came up to cup my face. "I love you too."

I couldn't talk, I couldn't think, I could hardly even breathe. I leaned into kiss him again and I felt something in the air shift. My body turned into liquid fire beneath his hands, Eddie's own skin hot underneath his clothes. I wanted them off of him. I wanted my clothes off too.

Like he'd read my mind, his hands came up to tug at the zipper on my shirt, pulling it down until my shirt fell open and I shrugged it off my shoulders, revealing a mesh lace bra of red and black. It was the same sort of thing I wore every day, but from the way Eddie was staring at me it could've been made of solid gold. However pretty it may be, it was too much clothing for my taste. I grabbed at Eddie's shirt, impatiently pulling it up, and he quickly took over, breaking away just long enough to grab the collar and yank it over his head. I got hot all over at the newly revealed expanse of bare skin. His hands went back to my hips, pulling me into him as we kicked off our shoes.

His lips seemed to be connected to all the nerve endings in my body, causing me to spark and catch fire. There were embers beneath my skin, their heat collecting to pool between my legs and every other part of me. His hands came around to snap my skirt open, and I was acutely aware of the black leather sliding down my legs. I waited for my body to freeze up; to say stop, no, wait a minute but it never came. It didn't come when Eddie kicked off his jeans and we fell backward onto his bed either. His hands came up to unhook my bra and there was fire racing up and down my veins as his hand closed around my breast, his tongue sweeping through my mouth. All that mattered were his hands on my skin, his mouth on mine. It was all that mattered for a long while.

* * *

After Amber literally got down on her hands and knees and _scrubbed_ the entire house, cooked a five-course meal and taught herself the martial arts, Nina deduced that she had gluttony. When Amber complained that she didn't overeat, Nina pointed out that Amber was overdoing, which as an act of excess, still counted. Wednesday night, when Nina started screaming in her sleep, Amber woke her up and talked her through it, getting rid of the gluttony. I was worried about Nina, of course, but most of the week my mind was preoccupied with other things. Eddie's mouth tracing a path down my stomach, his hand wrapped around my shoulders with my head on his chest, our legs tangled up in the sheets together –

"Patricia!"

I jumped, and quickly looked over to see Joy glaring at me impatiently. "You know, if we're going to walk back from school together, the least you can do is _pretend_ you're not mentally screwing your boyfriend."

My cheeks immediately flared up with heat. "I was not!"

"You were so," she complained. "Your eyes get this glazed over look and your hands tighten up. And if you're going to make me put up with you spacing out on me every thirty seconds, the least you can do is give me info. But you're stingier with details than Alfie was with money when he was infected."

"Mind your own business," I said loftily, hitching my bag up on my shoulder.

Joy spent most of the day alternating between attempting to squeeze information out of me, and squealing in delight whenever I agreed. By the time she left to shower I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt. At half past eight, we both went over to Amber and Nina's room and found the guys already there waiting for us.

Nina began putting the sigil down on paper as I stole glances at Eddie every few seconds. He was looking at me every time. I'd purposefully chosen pajamas that showed considerably more skin than normal. I wondered if he'd done the same, considering he was wearing a muscle tank instead of his regular oversized tee shirt. I let my eyes trail over his shoulders, down his arms, trying very hard not to let my mind stray to what he looked like without the pajamas, or any clothes at all really.

The paper flared up red and I yanked my focus over to see Nina wrapping a new Band-Aid on her freshly pricked finger. We took turns touching the sigil, and when we got there, Amber cleared her throat in a spectacularly loud fashion.

"Now does everyone remember our deal from last time?" Amber asked, raising perfectly plucked eyebrows. " _I_ was victim to a hideous conspiracy that forced me into being infected with, shudder, _gluttony_ , and so _I_ have been allowed to pick our next victim. I was going to choose Alfie as punishment for not helping, but Nina overruled me since he's already been infected. So, I have decided to choose… Patricia."

"Whoa, hold on," I interrupted, stepping over. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Amber flipped her hair and folded her arms, staring up at me with wide, innocent eyes. "While I was busy getting mopping calluses and dirty water in my hair, you were running around looking suspiciously happier than normal. Because you were happy while I suffered, it's your turn."

I tried to protest some more, but Amber made a 'abup!' noise, each time I opened my mouth. I eventually stamped my foot. "Fine," I growled. "But _I_ get to pick who goes next."

"Hide the children," Eddie called, and I turned to glare at him only to see him smirking. I suddenly found it annoyingly hard to concentrate, knowing exactly what that smirk looked like when he was looking up at me from a _very_ different position.

"Patricia?"

I whipped my head back around to Amber. "Sorry what?"

"We all agreed, you get to pick who goes next. So, go on." She gestured to the box we'd all come to hate so dearly. "Open it."

I blew out a breath and walked over to the table, gently tracing a finger over the lid. Despite the wavelike design carved into the side, the top of the box was smooth like glass. If I didn't know the horrors it housed, I would've thought it beautiful. I silently counted to three in my head, before sliding a fingernail underneath and flipping it open.

Just like before, it was a small explosion as miniature suns flew out of the box, the whole spectrum of colors dancing against the walls and ceiling, before the balls died down to a pearly white, floating in a slowly moving circle above the box. I squinted, trying to see if I could discern a hint about their personalities, but they simply continued to bob in formation, a circle of silky, wispy pearls. Acutely aware of everyone glancing at me, I shut my eyes and subtly pointed, opening my eyes to see I was pointing at the orb on the opposite side of the circle. I waited until it was within touching distance, and reached out a hand to it.

The effect was instantaneous. The second my fingers made contact, the sphere exploded in a violent burst of bright scarlet, streaking down my arm and racing over the rest of my body. I tried to blink and found my vision tinged with red, and for the briefest second, before the emotion faded along with the light, I felt myself grow very, very angry.

 **AN: hey everyone, I'm back! How was Thanksgiving for all my American readers? I hope you enjoyed it as much as Eddie normally does! Feedback wise, since this was my first time writing a sex scene, if you guys could tell me how I did/what I can improve upon, I'd really appreciate it. And for that one guest reviewer, I will try to have more Amfie in future chapters. Hope you all have some happy holidays!**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.**


	24. Chapter 22: Fabian

**Fabian**

When two people were having an argument in the living room, they generally shouldn't be yelling loud enough that their voices reached all the way into Nina's room upstairs. However, in the three days since Patricia had become infected with anger, most of the house had considered making an investment in noise-cancelling headphones at one time or another. She'd fought with Amber over doing the dishes, snapped at Mara for being too busy to help her study, lost her temper on Jerome for playing his music too loud, and gotten into a shouting match with Eddie over whether or not he'd copied her homework. Patricia was currently, to the shock of everyone in the house, yelling at Victor over his taxidermy collection. When most of us had wisely retreated into different sections of the house, Joy and Eddie had been trying in vain to play peacemaker.

"Remind me how long they've been going at it," I murmured. My chin was resting atop Nina's head as she mumbled something indistinguishable in response to my question, before snuggling further into my side, her nose brushing against my neck. I smiled as the sensation sent warmth flooding through my body, and used the arm around her waist to tug her a bit closer.

"Yeah, I think 'mmhmmhmm' would be my estimate too," I teased.

Nina lazily pulled her hand up from where it had been relaxing on my chest, to place a single finger on my lips. "Shhh," she insisted, before removing the finger. "You smell good."

My shoulders thrummed with laughter. "I smell good?"

Nina nodded, her curly hair tickling my chin. "Yeah. Like pine trees. New shampoo?"

I smiled in surprise. "Actually yes. How did you know?"

"You used to smell more like coconut," Nina giggled, pulling herself further into me. I could feel her breasts pressing up against me through our shirts, and my face warmed at the thought.

"I DON'T THINK IT'S AN UNREASONABLE REQUEST THAT I NOT HAVE TO STARE AT A DEAD CROW EVERY TIME YOU CALL ME INTO YOUR OFFICE."

Nina sighed in annoyance. "We have _got_ to find Patricia a selfless deed before she gets herself suspended."

I made a sound of agreement, grateful for the change of subject. "Hey, so if Patricia's got wrath, then that only leaves lust, pride, and envy. Which one do you think you'll get?"

"Hmm." Nina rolled over so that we were lying on our backs, side by side, and my arm moved up to below her shoulder blades. "To be honest I don't care that much, I just hope it's not envy."

"Really?" I was curious. "Why not?"

Nina gave a small, slightly guilty-sounding cough. "It's not a huge deal or anything, it's just hard enough for me to have you and Joy work on group projects. I don't want to imagine how difficult my life would get if I couldn't bear to have you in the same room together."

I opened my mouth to insist that Nina had no reason to be worried, but she didn't give me the chance. "It's nothing you're doing of course, and I know you can't just cut her out of your life or anything given the whole living together situation, it's just a thing I need to work on, that's all."

Jerome said he found it hot when Mara got jealous. I was more uncomfortable than turned on, so I decided to take her mind off of it. Twisting over so that I was on top of Nina, I leaned down and kissed her.

She gave a small moan before arching into me, and as I ran my hands through her hair, I reflected on how it was a nice change to have Nina make out with me because she wanted to, and not because she seemed like she might shatter into pieces if she didn't. After the shooting, she had refused to discuss it with me at all, and every time it got hard for Nina to breathe she would grab me, or text me, or drag me into the nearest empty room. Those kisses had been, messy, desperate, and rough, with hair pulling and nails scratching and neck biting. While it had been its own kind of sexy, I still liked this kind of kissing just as much. Slow, gentle, and leisurely, Nina dragging her tongue against mine, pressing her hand into my chest, her legs sliding up and down mine.

I felt electricity beginning to charge my blood, as I shifted so that I was sitting up, and dragged Nina with me. I kept kissing her as I began to work on the buttons of her shirt, feeling her hands come up to clasp the sides of my face before I got the shirt undone and she threw it off. The shirt had been light green and looked amazing on her, but in nothing but a clean white bra and skinny jeans, she looked even better.

I swallowed down the sudden bubble of nerves in my throat as Nina's fingers started working at my own clothes, pulling off my gray tee shirt. I was wearing a long-sleeved blue one underneath it, and Nina had it in her hands and halfway up my torso before hesitating. She pulled back, breathing heavily, and let the shirt go back down, staring at where her hands still held it. I was surprised at the strength of my disappointment. "Sorry, I just," Nina caught her breath before trying again. "I need a minute."

"Something wrong?" I asked, unsure of what had made her stop.

She hesitated before shaking her head, and gave a breathy laugh as she looked up at me. "I just don't want to start something you're not ready to finish, that's all."

I held her gaze and breathed in once, before grabbing my shirt and tugging it off myself. It came over my head and I pulled it off my hand, and I thought my skin might catch on fire as Nina's gaze turned downwards and her lips slightly opened. Her hand squeezed my bare shoulder before slowly drawing a path down my chest and to my hips. I dipped my head so that I caught her gaze and smiled. "What makes you think I'm not ready?"

Nina raised an eyebrow. "Well for one thing, even though you've gotten my tops off plenty of times this is the most I've ever seen of you, and for another—"

I interrupted her with a kiss, placing one hand on her back and one on the bed to make sure we didn't go down to hard until her back hit the mattress. I pulled up and let the tips of my fingers ghost over the front of her bra, watching her chest swell as she inhaled sharply. I pressed another kiss to the corner of her lips, before moving across her cheekbones and sucking lightly at her pulse point, knowing from experience how crazy it drove her. Sure enough, Nina clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle a groan, and I fought back a surge of pride, moving so my lips were right next to her ear. "I'm ready when you are."

Nina let out a breathy laugh, running both hands through my hair. "You're joking, right?" I lifted my head and Nina locked eyes with me, smiling. "Babe I've been ready for months now."

"NO GO AHEAD. GO AHEAD AND CALL MR. SWEET, LETS SEE WHOSE SIDE HE TAKES IN THIS MATTER. THAT'S ALWAYS YOUR BACKUP PLAN ISN'T IT, JUST GO RUNNING TO THE HEADMASTER."

Nina laughed as I dropped my head down to her shoulder with a sigh. "Readiness aside," she pointed out, "I am not going to have our first time be in an unlocked room with Patricia screeching downstairs."

I hummed in agreement, before returning my lips to that spot on her neck, trying to surprise her into a moan. She bit down hard on her lip instead, but her body shook underneath me. "What if you came over to my house for winter break?" I suggested. "We have plenty of empty rooms."

"Why Fabian Rutter, what must you think of me to ask such a question?" Nina giggled.

I moved back up to the corner of her mouth, feeling her smile press against mine. "Depends on your answer."

Nina tilted her head to kiss me and I let her. "In that case, if you're sure those rooms are empty I promise I'll make it worth your while."

She kissed me again as Patricia's voice exploded from downstairs.

INSERT PAGE BREAK HERE LATER. DON'T FORGET.

Unplanned school assemblies were never a good sign. They were a worse sign when only a certain grade got called. They were an even _worse_ sign when a specific group or groups were summoned and nobody knew why. Most of Monsieur Duval's old French classes had grouped themselves together by period, and were chattering nervously as we waited for one of the teachers to show up. Eddie was deep in discussion with Jerome and Alfie, Amber and Nina were looking through a new magazine article, and I was rereading my copy of _The Martian_ that Nina had gotten me for Christmas last year.

I quickly glanced over at Nina, just to look at her, and took a minute to admire the way her hair fell over her shoulder as she leaned forward, and how her skirt was hitched up further than normal due to her crossed legs. I turned back to my book but my eyes caught on Joy, who appeared to be trying very hard not to panic, and Patricia, who looked like she was trying to calm her down. I sent up a brief prayer that whatever Joy was upset about – probably a failed quiz – wouldn't send Patricia off the rails, again. The last thing she needed right now was to lose control in front of the whole school.

"Erm, students? If I could get your attention please."

I bookmarked my spot with a pen and slid it into my backpack. Gradually second, third, fourth, and seventh period French all hushed themselves as Mr. Sweet waited patiently. Once we were silent, he cleaned his glasses and placed them back on his nose. "There are two announcements. The first, is that due to the administration's… difficulties, in finding a permanent replacement for Monsieur Duval, the class is being replaced with two optional electives." Excited whispers filled the room, but quickly stopped when Sweetie kept talking. "Due to the extranormal circumstances surrounding his departure, you will all receive a passing grade and full credit, and to finish the semester you will either be taking physical education, or a theatre class. We have spoken with the faculty and found teachers to take on the classes during the original time slots, so that no schedules will need to be adjusted."

I glanced over at the rest of my housemates. We'd probably all be taking theatre, given our joint distaste for most activities involving sprinting. Eddie might've signed up for the other class, but given that there was no way in hell he could talk Patricia into it, he'd probably join the rest of us.

Most of the room had gotten busy discussing who would be taking what until Mr. Sweet raised his voice again. "Before the next announcement, all male students have the option to leave the room, although you may stay if you wish. You will probably find out eventually, although this only concerns the young women here."

Most of the guys left, with high fives and superior looks, but a little over a dozen decided to stay, probably out of curiosity, all of the Anubis house boys included. I glanced over to see Nina talking to Amber in a low voice, both of them looking just as confused as I felt. Shrugging, I waited for the room to quiet.

Mr. Sweet looked distinctly uncomfortable, and my curiosity was instantly piqued. What did he want to talk about? "I feel obligated to warn you, this is of a somewhat delicate manner, and if it is discussed, it must be done with the utmost respect." I looked over at Eddie as Sweetie straightened his tie and raised my eyebrows. My roommate shook his head, before turning back.

"New facts in the Halloween investigation have been recently brought to light. One of these, is that Monsieur Duval was sexually harassing one of his female students." I thought my eyes might jump out of my head. All the girls immediately started looking at each other, trying to figure out who it could've been. "The police are asking that either the victim herself, or anyone with information about the identity of this student come forward, as it is of the utmost importance."

"What's so important about it?" Patricia called out, sounding waspish.

I closed my eyes in despair. _Oh please, not now, not now._

"I'm sorry, Miss Williamson?" Sweetie looked confused and I didn't blame him. I wondered if Joy could shut her up, but from the looks of it she was already trying.

"Well he's dead, isn't he? He killed himself, we all heard. If he's dead then why are the police still interested?"

Students murmured in agreement, turning towards Mr. Sweet expectantly, who looked not at all pleased with the direction the assembly had taken. "The police are not at liberty to discuss ongoing investigations."

"Except he's _dead_ , so it shouldn't still be ongoing," Patricia insisted. "Which means either he's not really dead, he didn't really kill himself, or someone else shot the place up."

I glanced sharply over at Nina, who looked as though she might throw up at the last suggestion. The idea that whoever had shot her might still be here…

"Miss Williamson, unless you have information about the student Monsieur Duval was targeting—"

"That arse brought a _gun_ , to our _school_. He shot Nina. We were all there when it happened so there's no use coddling us now, and frankly I think we're owed the least bit of honesty on the subject."

Mr. Sweet ran a hand over his face, looking as though he wished he'd rather be anywhere else. "You're right Patricia." Looking both stunned and suspicious, Patricia folded her arms impatiently. "If anyone, Miss Williamson included, has any questions on the matter, you are welcome to come see me in my office and I will do my best to answer them. Dismissed."

Everyone practically leapt out of their seats and grabbed for their friends, and I knew the news would be all over the school before the end of classes tomorrow. We all funneled out and I quickly made my way over to Nina and Amber, who both looked shell-shocked. "Did you know?" I asked quietly, readjusting my bag to have something to do with my hands.

Nina shook her head, looking wooden, but Amber recovered as Alfie came over with Jerome and Mara. "No idea," Amber answered. "That poor girl though. I mean can you imagine?"

"I honestly don't want to," shuddered Mara. "The idea that a teacher here would do that? I feel a bit nauseous."

The rest of us vaguely agreed as I glanced around for Patricia and Joy, wondering if they knew anything. I saw them huddled in tight formation with Eddie, Joy looking nervous, and Patricia looking pissed off as usual, cutting a path towards Sweetie's office. I exhaled impatiently. Given how terrible most of our house was at keeping a secret, they were probably as in the dark as the rest of us.

We headed back to the house and were either working on homework, just relaxing, or – in Alfie and Jerome's case – devising some unholy idea involving ghost peppers and marble statues when most of our phones went off with a message from the group chat. Nina and I both grabbed our phones, and my eyebrows went up in surprise when I read the text from Patricia.

 _Im cured losers. Fabian, ur up._

"Well that came out of nowhere," Nina muttered. I nodded in agreement, already typing.

 _How'd you do it?_

There was a few seconds pause before the reply came through. _Apologized 2 Kruger 4 yelling him._

Amber chimed in with a message of her own. _Tht doesnt sound v selfless. U do nything else?_

 _If it hadn't been good enough, do u think it would've workd?_

Nina nudged me and I looked up. "Guess it's your turn tonight."

I swallowed against my suddenly dry throat. "Looks like it."

"Hey." She grabbed my hand and squeezed. "It'll be fine. What's the worst that can happen?"

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Nina, never ask that question. Have the last two years taught you nothing? The three questions we never ask, are what's the worst that can happen, what could possibly go wrong, or how can it get any worse. It can _always_ get worse."

Nina knocked my shoulder gently. "I thought I was supposed to be the one wracked with anxiety, while you're the calm voice of reason."

I grabbed her hand and pressed it to my cheek. Her skin was cool against mine, and I inhaled deeply. Vanilla, which she somehow always managed to smell like, and cinnamon, from that perfume she sometimes wore. "I think we may be swapping places for a bit."

She moved her thumb back and forth gently across my cheekbones. "Deal."

A BREAKING OF THE PAGES GOES HERE. BITCH YOU BETTER NOT FORGET

"Well I'm the girlfriend and I say I don't want him near _anyone_ until he's cured."

I was trying to focus on the conversation, but it was proving difficult when Nina had her hair pulled over one shoulder, exposing the curves of her graceful neck.

"So, he's infected with lust," Eddie argued. "It's not like he's going to go around having sex with every girl who looks at him. Which might I point out, is not a lot of girls in the first place."

Because I was still watching Nina, I saw her cast a nasty glare at Joy. "You'll have to forgive me for not wanting to take the chance."

I followed Nina's gaze to Joy and smiled. Had Joy changed shampoos, or had her hair always been that sleek and shiny? And her frame was so small and lithe, delicate like a woodland creature. I mentally stripped her of her clothes and my attraction immediately increased tenfold.

Fingers snapping in front of my face jerked me out of my reverie. I turned to see Nina, looking furious. "Okay, Joy needs to go."

"What? Why?" I protested.

Nina wrapped her arms tightly around herself, just underneath her breasts, propping them up just so. "Is there a reason she has to stay?" she demanded.

I shrugged. "She's nice to look at," I answered honestly.

I glanced over as Joy inhaled sharply and smiled at her, looking up and down her body. That school uniform really worked wonders.

"Fine." I turned back to see Nina blinking rapidly. "I have to go do homework. Eddie, you deal with him."

Seeing as how Nina was also nice – if not nicer – to look at, I wanted to protest, but Nina was out the door before I could open my mouth. Disregarding her abrupt exit, I turned back to Joy, smiling at her. If history was anything to go by, she'd probably be willing to have sex with me. Now if Eddie could just leave us alone.

"Joy, I think you should probably go too," Eddie suggested daintily.

"Oh, come on!" I exclaimed.

BREAK THINGIE WHATSIT HOLLA

The next four days were death by boredom. Eddie told Victor and Trudy that I had pinkeye, and since I had once tried to go to school despite a case of strep throat, Trudy was pretty willing to believe it. Victor didn't seem to care. Thus, I was confined to my room and only Eddie was allowed to see me, although I occasionally texted Joy and Nina. I tried texting Patricia but Eddie punched me, and Amber deleted her and Mara's numbers from my phone.

Nina mostly stopped answering my texts, saying she'd talk to me when I was cured, so I ended up talking to Joy the most. So, it really shouldn't have come as a surprise when I convinced her to leave school early and come visit me. One cheesy text conversation later, and she headed over.

 _Come on, please? I'm so BORED, Joy._

 _Well wht m i supposed 2 do abt tht?_

 _I can think of a few ways you can entertain me ;)_

The door closed behind her and I grinned. "Took you long enough." I walked over, ready to kiss her but she held up a hand.

"You can't keep doing this to me."

I frowned, confused. "Doing what?"

She gestured between us. " _This_. Acting like you want me when we both know it's temporary."

I sighed. This was not how this was supposed to go. Bringing my hands up, I gently cupped her face between my palms. "I've always wanted you Joy."

Her lips parted and I went weak in the knees. "You have?"

 _No_. I nodded, and pressed my lips gently to hers. "Always."

What came next was a jigsaw of memories. Joy's fingers in my hair, her breasts in my hands, Joy breathily laughing as she struggled to pull off her socks, fumbling for a condom at Joy's insistence. And as we neared the end I buried my face in her hair and breathed in deeply, inhaling the floral scent, frowning in confusion. Flowers? It should be cinnamon and vanilla, shouldn't it? But then Joy moaned and I forgot about what she smelled like as we stopped moving against each other.

I had pulled all of my clothes back on, but Joy was struggling with her bra when Patricia walked in.

" _JOY!_ " she cried, one hand opening and closing in midair, the other jabbing at the both of us. "Did you two – you didn't – he just – oh _Nina_ – Joy how could you?"

Much to my dismay, Joy finally managed to snap her bra back into place and quickly reached for her shirt, looking embarrassed and defensive. "So, what if we did?"

Patricia looked angrier than I'd ever seen her. It was kind of hot, actually. "So, _what_ if you did?" she hissed, steam practically coming out of her ears. "First off Joy, I don't think I should need to tell you how stupid this was, did you even use protection? Have either of you been tested? He's with Nina! Not to mention you really think the first guy you get involved with after your French teacher hit on you should be a guy with a girlfriend who's _not into you?_ "

"What do you mean after your French teacher hit on you?" I interrupted, for once focusing entirely on the conversation at hand.

The girls went dead silent as I processed her words. "You don't mean it was Joy do you?"

Now they both looked furious, although Patricia seemed slightly guilty. "I didn't say that," she snapped.

Joy spoke at the same time as she pulled her shirt back over her head. "You can't tell anyone."

I rubbed at my temples, still trying to fathom the enormity of what Patricia had let slip. "I don't understand." 

"You don't have to understand." Joy sat down on the bed next to me. "Please just promise you won't tell anyone."

I looked at the girl who used to be my best friend, staring at me with desperation in her eyes, and knew there was no way I could deny her this. "Of course, I promise."

Joy sighed in relief and I suddenly felt like I'd been punched in the gut. I gasped as my entire body glowed deep pink before the sensation of my chest collapsing caused me to double over. All of a sudden it was gone.

I blinked a few times before looking up to see Patricia and Joy both staring at me. "He's cured now, right?" When Joy asked, her voice sounded curiously high pitched.

Patricia shrugged. "Let's make sure. Fabian, do you want to sleep with me?"

I instinctively recoiled. "No! I mean, not that you're not attractive, just that I as a person, am not attracted to you. But I'm sure loads of people are attracted to you, in that way, I just don't think—"

"Yeah he's cured," she deadpanned.

I rubbed my eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted, and leaned back on the bed. The very messy bed.

"Oh my GOD!" I jumped to my feet, staring at Joy in horror. "Did we just – we just – you and I we – oh my GOD!"

"Yeah that was pretty much my reaction," Patricia scowled.

Joy looked shaken. "You said you wanted it, you said—" she took a moment to gather herself. "Do you regret it?"

Of course, I regretted it. Unable to form words I simply stared at her. At Joy, who I had just had sex with. I had just had sex with a girl for the very first time, but it wasn't supposed to have been with Joy, it should've been with _Nina_ —

I choked on air as the blood drained from my face. Nina. "You can't tell Nina," I managed.

Patricia folded her arms. "You're joking right?"

"Patricia, please, you _can't_."

She shook her head stubbornly. "Don't you think she has the right to know her boyfriend slept with someone else?"

I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. This was not happening. This was a nightmare I was about to wake up from, or some twisted alternate reality I'd somehow gotten trapped in. This was not happening. I hadn't slept with Joy. This _was not happening_.

FINAL PAGE BREAK REMEMBER IT I SWOM TO JOM

Nina's door was slightly ajar and I took a moment to look at her before knocking. Her legs idly hanging over the side of the bed, curly hair tucked behind her ears, eyes skimming over an online article. Feeling so horrible my knees almost gave out, I gently rapped my fingers against the door and pushed it open as she looked up at me, smiling before immediately withdrawing in suspicion. "If you're not cured yet I've got nothing to say to you."

Guilt wrapped its greedy fingers around my lungs, crushing out the air with a viselike grip. I managed a small smile. "I'm cured."

Nina bit her lip and frowned at me for a second, until I passed whatever test she'd devised. She leapt up from the bed and threw herself into my arms. "Oh, thank God," she mumbled, burying her face in my neck. I wrapped my arms around her tightly, inhaling vanilla and cinnamon, feeling the familiar shape of her torso.

It felt as though my brain were tearing itself in two. Half of me was screaming that I had to tell her and now, the other half insisting I keep my mouth shut and never open it again, having gotten Patricia to agree to not tell Nina unless she asked outright.

"I'm sorry," I whispered into her hair.

Nina drew back and smiled at me, looking twelve kinds of relieved. "Sorry for what?" she laughed. "If you're apologizing for flirting with Patricia then I don't think I'm the one you should be talking too."

I shook my head. "No I'm just…" I struggled for words that wouldn't give away what I'd done. "I'm sorry for whatever I did that made you unhappy. I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Yeah, no kidding," Nina grimaced. "But now that you're cured, as long as you remember that _I'm_ the only girl you're allowed to flirt with, no hard feelings."

"You're the only girl I _want_ to flirt with," I insisted.

Nina rested her hands on the nape of my neck, the fingers brushing against my hair giving me goosebumps. "You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that," she murmured before kissing me gently.

My lips burned with the ghost of the last girl I'd just kissed, and so I grabbed Nina roughly by the shoulders and drew her in, kissing her roughly, trying to erase the memory of Joy from my skin. Nina made a noise of surprise against my lips, but whenever we got rough she gave as good as she got. Nina bit down on my lower lip, prying open my mouth and sweeping her tongue against mine. I turned her around and pressed her back against the door, running a hand down her thigh and as she lifted her right leg to hook it around me. Maybe if I kissed her hard enough, I could wipe away the stain of my sin.

 **AN: sooo it's been a while. Also can I just say that however sweet it may be, y'all need to take several chill pills. Like this story has been ongoing for multiple years now. I don't update for a few weeks and there's ensuing panic in my inbox asking me not to abandon the story. I promise I am not abandoning the story. RELAX. Anyway, so** _ **this**_ **chapter happened. Fabian cheated on Nina? Le gasp! Will she find out? If she does, who tells her? What do the last two sins have in store for our characters? Will I ever go back to Mara and Jerome? (Yes to the last one btw.) Anyway, I am very sorry (very, very sorry) about the long breaks between updates but guys, I promise: I will finish the story. (I'll finish it faster if you review. Yes that is blatant bribery. No I am not ashamed.)**

 **Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.**


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